


Power-kick

by Johnny_kun



Series: Power-kicked in the fluff [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, Keith has no idea why he stayed, Kid Fic, Kid!Hunk, Kid!Pidge, M/M, because why not, don't mess with mama Lance, klance, mom lance, single dad Lance, teen Sendak, teen Zarkon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 06:01:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 67,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8151563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johnny_kun/pseuds/Johnny_kun
Summary: “I am so sorry, you just fell so hard for me and I feel bad about it now.” Lance had to admit that his pick-up lines were getting better.
“Did you kick the ball?! Purposely at me?” The black haired man asked, voice laced with annoyance as he got up, ignoring Lance’s offered hand for help.
“It was an accident, really. I was showing my children how to do a power-kick.” Lance’s flirty smile didn’t change the unimpressed expression on the stranger’s face.
“You should show them how to apologize now.”





	1. Power-kick

Lance’s day was going very well so far. The sun was shining, the kids were dressed and happy, nobody was crying or painting the walls and all the pancakes he made turned out eatable. The only thing that was annoying him was the green cake in the fridge.

“Hunk, do you want some cake?” His six-year-old son was always excited for food. He loved it almost as much as he loved robots. But not this cake.

“Stop trying, dad.” The boy shook his head as he ate the last bite of his pancake. Lance sighed and closed the fridge door. He turned towards the table and looked at his second child who was sitting in a green highchair. “What about you Pidge, do you want some of _your_ cake?” His question was answered with a loud “Nooo” and a smiley shake of a small head.

“Why don’t you just throw it away?”

“Hunk, I can’t throw away something that costs so much, at least not until it molds. Now go wash your hands. We are going to the park.” Hunk cheered and ran away while Lance picked up Pidge and went to the sink in the kitchen to clean her face and hands.

Twenty minutes later Hunk was standing in front of their apartment, holding Pidge’s hand while Lance stocked the stroller with things and locked the door. Just as he was taking out his key from the lock he noticed two boxes by his neighbor’s door.

“Look Hunk, someone is finally moving in, that means more candy for Halloween.”

* * *

 

 

 Running and jumping around after a ball was just as fun for Lance as it was for the kids. He had to admit that coming to play was often more for his own entertainment than anything else. There was also the bonus of cute single dads.

Lance was squatting next to the stroller, trying to find Pidge’s hat while shamelessly scanning his surroundings for any hotties. He saw the regulars, two new moms, one of them was very good for the eye but not exactly his type. Suddenly the radar in his head went off. There, under the shade of a nearby tree. It looked like he had athletic body, his hair was black, longer around his neck. There was something about him that made Lance want him.

Mr. Sexy was panting, probably taking a break from running, judging by his clothes - black jogging pants and a red sleeveless hoodie. He wasn’t very close so Lance couldn’t see him that well, but it didn’t matter. What he saw was enough.

“Hunk, give me your ball and watch Pidge for a second. Dad has a very important mission.”

His son looked at him strangely but passed the ball towards his father and went to sit next to Pidge on the grass where she was playing with two cars and a robot. Lance looked at his kids “Don’t move from here, the typical rules apply, yell for emergencies, I will be right there with the Red hood.” At Hunks nod he put the ball in position and kicked it towards Mr. Hottie. And goal! Right in the head! The man fell on the ground and looked angrily around himself. ‘Ok, maybe I overdid it.’ Though Lance as he sprinted in the direction of his target.

“I am so sorry, you just fell so hard for me and I feel bad about it now.” Lance had to admit that his pick-up lines were getting better.

“Did you kick the ball?! Purposely at me?” The black haired man asked, voice laced with annoyance as he got up, ignoring Lance’s offered hand for help.

“It was an accident, really. I was showing my children how to do a power-kick.” Lance’s flirty smile didn’t change the unimpressed expression on the stranger’s face.

“You should show them how to apologize now.”

“I already said I was sorry!”

“And also, your power-kick sucks.” Oh, no. No way. Suddenly Mr. Sexy lost a lot of points. No one had the right to belittle Lance’s abilities! Lance’s charming smile twitched and turned in a flat line.

“Is that why you fell down, huh? Because I can’t kick a ball?”

“It was because it came as a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you to kick a ball to my head! Had I known I would have caught it.”

“Yeah, right! And what do you know about kicking anyway? I bet you can’t hit a target that well, especially from a big distance!”

“So you admit you hit me on purpose!” Both males had gotten really close, noses almost touching. Lance noted that they were almost the same height. He also noted the way his lips opened and closed, and how, despite the noticeable sweat on his body, the stranger smelled nice. He got the sudden urge to check for abs so he pocked one of his fingers in the stomach area of Mr. Sexy. Yup, toned muscles.

“I do not admit anything”

“Why are you pocking me?!”

“You are just angry because you were taken dawn by a yellow ball in the park by someone who kicks better than you.”

“You don’t kick better than me!”

“Yeah? Do you want to see if this is true? Or are you afraid of losing?” The stranger looked at Lance and then went to retrieve the ball from where it had rolled off, silently agreeing to the challenge.

Lance smirked, flirting put on hold for now. “Hunk, dad is going to use your robot for a while.”

Both Hunk and Pidge didn’t look too happy to lose another toy to their father.  “Don’t make these faces! I will buy you ice cream after I beat the se- uuh, I mean annoying man.”

“My name is Keith. And why do you need the toy?” Keith was now standing next to Lance, the ball under one arm.

“It is going to be our target. I am afraid your head may fall off if it gets hit by my power-kick again.”

“So you do admit to targeting specially me.”

 “No, I didn’t say so. Right Hunk? Dad didn’t say anything like that.”

 

* * *

 

 

Forty minutes later Pidge and Hunk were looking from the side, after a very long game of tag, as their dad and his new friend were destroying their robot with a ball. The toy was missing its head and an arm.

The two adults couldn’t settle the competition. The score was equal. They would have continued all day if it wasn’t for Hunk’s interruption.

“I am hungry dad, there are no more crackers and Pidge wants to sleep.”

Lance nodded his head. He was very competitive and liked riling Keith up, but his kids were way more important to him than that. Lance went to pat Hunk on the head and told him to collect all of their toys that were lying around in the grass. Then he picked up a sleepy Pidge, who clutched her father’s shirt in one hand and put her head on his shoulder.

“Well Keith, I am sorry I couldn’t beat you properly today.” At that Keith’s eye twitched.

“I would have won! You can’t kick at all!”

“Right, that’s why you didn’t win.” Lance wasn’t even looking at Keith as he bended to buckle Pidge in the stroller. Keith pretended not to look at his ass.

“I didn’t win only because we stopped the game!” Lance shook his head, he was already pushing the stroller, Hunk skipping happily next to him. The destination was a small place for lunch that was very close.

“Keith, my man, even Hunk here, who is only six, accepts loosing better than you.”

Keith felt like punching Lance. Really he did. He looked angrily at the back of the other man. It was a very stupid argument. But for some reason it irked him so bad. He couldn’t let Lance be the winner. So he went to catch up with the irritating ‘friend’ he made.

“I can lose just fine! But this is not the case here! And what about that apology you owe me?”

Lance though about it, never stopping walking and Keith never stopping following. “Hmm, you know what? I will repay you for making you fall so hard for me.” Keith actually looked shocked. To be honest, he didn’t expect an apology. Lance looked like a stubborn man who never admitted his mistakes.

So when Keith said “Really?” it came out in a very suspicious tone.

Lance nodded and smiled his flirty smile again. “Yup, I will take you to lunch, I know a great place. The food is good and you can get a cool toy. It will be a date!”

Keith suddenly stopped. “A-a date? Lance, what the hell?!”

 “Hey, watch your language around my kids!” Lance scolded.

“Sorry.” Keith said. “Ok, but only because I am hungry and you do owe me for kicking me in the head. And it’s not a date.”

Lance only laughed as a response and extended one hand so he could ruffle his son’s hair.

Keith continued to walk silently as father and son discussed the toys offered at the place they were going. He had no idea why he agreed, Yeah, he was hungry, but he had food at his apartment, Shiro did leave a box of something in the fridge when he carried in the last of his move-in luggage. He could have gone home, to unpack and relax, and shower, and eat. He could have done it the moment he got up after falling down when kicked with a ball.

But then the owner of the ball showed and he was kinda hot. Sun kissed skin, tall and toned body, brown hair, sexy smile. Keith tried not to show his interest at first because he was angry for what had happened. Then lance opened his mouth and he became even angrier. After five minutes with Lance, Keith wanted to strangle him and then maybe make out with him. So he stayed and he kicked a ball at a robot while two children ran around him. And now he was going to have lunch with them.

Really, he wasn’t sure why he agreed, especially after the ridiculous declaration for a date. He didn’t want to go on a date with Lance. No. Perhaps a little bit. If only he didn’t open his mouth, maybe then…

“Keith, stop thinking so hard and watch your step. You are going to trip and fall on your pretty face.” Hunk giggled at his dad’s words and covered his mouth with both hands, as if to stop himself from laughing.

Keith sighed deeply and fell into step right next to Lance “Don’t worry about my face. Your kid just threw a shoe at a dog. Worry about that”

Lance instantly stopped pushing the stroller and bended a little to the side so he could se Pidge. “Pidge! We talked about that! Don’t throw your stuff! What are you going to do with only one shoe now, huh?” He tickled her little foot and made her giggle. Keith stopped ogling Lance’s ass and actually smiled at the sweet moment.

“Mister! Your child almost hit my Benny! What a beast are you raising?” Ah, the old lady, the owner of the dog wasn’t happy.

Lance straightened up and looked at the woman with a strange expression on his face “Excuse you lady, but you have no right to speak to my baby like this! And what was your dog doing so close to us anyway?”

The lady looked offended “Are you saying this is my fault? Benny’s fault?”

 Keith felt the urge to face palm himself and run in the opposite direction. Instead he stayed glued in place.

“What kind of dog doesn’t dodge a sandal thrown by a toddler?!”

“Mister! No wonder your child is so ill-mannered! With a rude father like you!”

Hunk was fidgeting slightly as he watched the scene unfold. Pidge was also getting nervous, realizing she must have done something very bad, because this woman was yelling, her daddy was very angry and big brother looked sad.

“What did you say?! How dare you-?!” Keith didn’t wait for Lance to finish his sentence, he grabbed the brown haired man with one hand. He started pushing the stroller with his other hand after telling Hunk gently to get going. “Come on Lance, stop talking.”

“Oi lady, you better watch out because the next time we see your do Pidge will throw her other shoe and this time she will hit the target!”

Really, honestly, Keith had no idea why he didn’t run away. Yes, Lance had a great ass, and a great body in general, but was all of this worth it?

“Yeah, that’s right! Take Benny and hide! But we will find you!”

No, it wasn’t. And yet, Keith continued dragging a shouting Lance with one hand and pushing the stroller with the other while never taking his eyes off of Hunk.

* * *

 

A/N: I have no idea where this came from in my head... but here it is. It is late and my eyes are closing. Sorry for any mistakes.

I don't own Voltron, obviously. 

Thank you for reading!

The title is under construction :D


	2. Potato cannon

It took Lance only five minutes to calm down and stop struggling. Ten more minutes of walking and listening to complains about ugly dogs and old hags, and they were finally at the small restaurant.

Their food arrived fast and Hunk inhaled his portion in a record time, running off to the small play area. That left Keith alone with Lance. Well, Pidge too, but she was almost asleep in the highchair next to her father, hands still dirty with mashed potatoes, one foot still missing a sandal. So that left Keith with just Lance. Surprisingly it was _pleasant._ Not that Keith will ever admit it. After the hard last few months, sitting here and talking mindlessly about everything and anything, from the traffic to the best gyms in the area, made Keith felt emotionally relaxed.

Perhaps the key to his relaxation was the fact that they weren’t arguing. They weren’t competing, no yelling, no scores, no looser or winner. It actually made Keith rethink his opinion on Lance. Maybe he could give all of this a chance. Or at least, the part where they were talking like normal people, not the whole date thing. Because this was not a date. Keith was very confident in this. But only in his head because that was also one of the things they weren’t discussing.

Keith was observing the way Lance’s muscles flexed under his shirt when he stretched his arms while explaining some new exercise he found on the internet, when from somewhere behind him something flew and landed on Pidge’s face. This startled her awake, probably scaring her and she instantly started crying. Keith turned around in his chair, trying to see who did that while Lance took her in his arms and started patting her back comfortingly.

“Oooh little Pidgeon, poor baby, did the bad french-fry scare you? Did it hurt? I am sure it didn’t, you are brave.” While Lance was speaking nonsense, Keith spotted the culprit, a young boy, probably nine or ten years old. He was looking mischievously towards their table, still holding a small sling in one hand.  

Pidge has stopped crying and was currently sitting in Lance’s lap as he proceeded to clean her hands off the mashed potatoes she was eating before.

“Now, Pidge, daddy will give you a very important lesson. I know you like to learn.” This triggered Keith’s interest. He expected to hear a lection about bad and good people, and about inappropriate behavior. But once again Lance opened his mouth in the bad way.

“Some kids are very good, like you and Hunk, you are so good, always listening to what I say, right?” Pidge nodded. “But sometimes kids are bad, and do bad thing all day, every day. We call them brats, Pidge.” Pidge nodded once again. “Now repeat after daddy: brat”

Keith just stared as Pidge said “Brat!” in her small, kiddie voice, full with anger and hate that was certainly not normal for a toddler.

 _‘What kind of a lesson is this? Is this appropriate language for a baby?’_ Keith’s scandalized look went unnoticed by Lance who smoothed Pidge’s hair away from her face and continued with his ‘lesson’.

“Brats usually have bratty parents, so we do not engage with them unless totally necessary, because daddy gets annoyed with them and starts losing his mind. We protect daddy’s mind, Pidge. Now, we will avenge for you, my child. And our ammo will be waaay better than a single french-fry.”

 _‘There goes my relaxed atmosphere’_ Though Keith. _‘What is wrong with this man? How could I even think he was normal?’_ Lance had grabbed a spoon and some mashed potatoes and was loading his ‘catapult’.

“Lance, you can’t throw food at a kid! What do you think-” But Lance didn’t hear him.

“Look at that, Pidge. Mashed potatoes are harder to clean, so a better ammo. Keith, don’t move and pretend we are talking, you will be our cover.”

“I _am_ trying to talk to you, but you are not listening! You can’t just-” But before Keith could finish, the smashed potato was flying through the air. It definitely hit its target, judging by the loud “Hey!” and the following commotion on the table behind theirs. Keith glared at Lance who pretended not to notice as he strapped Pidge in her stroller and then left some money on the table.

“Let’s go Keith, it seems like something is going on here, it’s not a good environment for children.” He purposely raised his voice while passing by the table of the ‘brat.’ The parents there just nodded, agreeing to what was said.

Keith sighed and stood from the table, catching up with Lance. “ _You_ are bad environment for children, not this place!” He hissed at the brown-haired man as he held the door open for the stroller.

“Who? Me? No way! I am the best father!” Pidge shouted an excited “Yeah!” as a confirmation.

“Do you make a scene everywhere you go?”

“You are hurting my feelings, Keith. I don’t make scenes.”

“Yeah, right. Did you forget what happened at the park? And now here!”

“I will always protect my children! Nobody has the right to bully and belittle them!” Lance’s tone was very serious, his hands tightened around the handle of the stroller. He took a deep breath, calmed himself and turned so he could look at Keith, smile back in place. “And I don’t forget! My memory is great! Way better than yours!”

Keith stopped walking and crossed his arms. “Is that so? Well Mr. Great memory, you just forgot your son.”

Lance immediately stopped and looked around himself. Indeed Hunk was nowhere to be seen.

“Quiznak!” exclaimed Lance as he pulled the stroller back and towards Keith. “You stay with Pidge!” he said to the black-haired man and then proceeded to run in the restaurant, almost colliding with the glass door. The last thing Keith heard before the door shut behind Lance was “Hunk, let’s go home! Dad didn’t forget you again!"

 

* * *

 

There was something strangely attractive about the way Lance drank water. Keith was leaning against a wall, watching as Lance gave water to Hunk and then had some himself. _‘Perhaps it’s the way his lips close around the end of the bottle, his head tipped back, or maybe it’s the way his throat contracts when he swallows. Mmmm.’_ Suddenly, Keith’s mind was filled with a lot of scenarios including Lance swallowing. _‘Damn it! Ok, Keith, think about Coran, or ducks, cats, lions. Yes, calm down.’_    

“Mr. Keith, are you ok?” Keith almost jumped when Hunk touched his knee. He looked down at the child with questioning expression. But the one to answer was Lance.

“You were looking at the pavement so intensely. Were you trying to set it on fire?” Lance laughed at his own joke and smiled his flirty smile again. “Someone as hot as you must be able to set things on fire just by touch!”

Keith’s eyes widened. “What -”

“Oooh Mr. Keith, Do you really have superpowers? Are you a superhero?” Hunk sounded so excited. Lance nodded to his son and never stopped smiling.

“He must be one! Do you have a superhero costume?” Again Lance laughed and then blushed, trying to busy himself by covered the now sleeping Pidge with a small blanket.

Keith sighed but didn’t answer. _‘Does he ever stop laughing? And what is he suddenly blushing about? Who knows what goes in his head…’_

Lance cleared his throat and stood straight. “Well, Keith, we must get going now. It was _very_ good to meet you.”  The father was already walking down the street, holding Hunk’s hand and pushing the stroller. Suddenly he turned and winked “We will meet again! And maybe have another date!”

All the people on the street looked at Keith and his face became red, with _anger,_ as he told himself, not _embarrassment_ , for sure. He glared at two girls who were giggling and pointing at him. Then he ran towards Lance. “This was not a date!”

“Mmm, I think it was.”

“It was not!”

“We ate at a restaurant, had a great time-”

“You threw potatoes at a kid! Then you forgot Hunk!”

“Ah! Don’t speak like that! Hunk, that is not true, dad didn’t forget you.” Hunk looked at his father with a face that screamed ‘Dad, who are you trying to lie to?’ but he didn’t say anything.

“He was there! He knows what happened!”

“We had a great time before all of this happened. We spoke, you know, normally, and we bonded, man.”

“We didn’t bond.”

Lance turned to Keith with a smooth smile but said nothing. Keith rolled his eyes and almost stomped his feet in frustration.

“This was the worst date I have been to!”

Lance snorted and again looked at Keith. “So it was a date.”

“It was not!”

“And it must have been a good one too. I mean, you are still walking with me, even after I told you I was going home.” Lance smirked and continued speaking “Are you trying to get in my bed Keith? How inappropriate! There are children present, calm yourself!”

 _‘Yes’_ “What?! No! Are you mad?! I am not trying to-. You know what, never mind. I live in that direction. I am going home too.”

“Mr. Keith, there is nothing bad about wanting to sleep with dad. He gives the warmest cuddles when you have a nightmare and knows the best bedtime stories in the world.” At Hunk’s words Keith almost tripped and fell down. Lance, on the other hand, just laughed out loud and ruffled his son’s hair.

“Yes Keith, do you want to cuddle, hahahaha” Keith wasn’t amused. He hit Lance behind the head and marched ahead, disappearing from view, ignoring the loud “OW, what was that for?!”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance was still in a good mood when he got home. Somehow he was sure he would meet Keith again. During lunch the man had mentioned he goes for a run every day. The park was the only suitable place nearby.

He was currently lying on his stomach with Pidge sitting on his back on the living room’s floor, playing transformers with Hunk.

“Dad, do you think we got a cool new neighbor?”

Lance though at Hunk’s question. “I don’t know. What do you say we go and introduce ourselves, huh?”

Hunk jumped and ran around, still holding one robot, making him ‘fly’. When he was passing by the kitchen entrance he saw the fridge and suddenly stopped. He got a strange look on his face and addressed his dad. “And we should bring them a present, like in the movies.”

Confusion filled Lance as he watched his son. “But we don’t have anything we can give them, no cookies or a-” all of a sudden realization came upon Lance. “Oooh, Hunk, what a great mind you have! Daddy is so proud of you!”

 

* * *

 

 

Five minutes later Lance was standing in front of his new neighbor’s apartment, holding Pidge in on hand and the other hand was carrying a plate with a green cake. Hunk was standing on his left and on his father’s signal he rang the bell.

The door opened and Lance and Hunk both made the same noise in surprise while Pidge waved enthusiastically at the person on the other side.

“Lance?! What are you doing here?!”

“I live here! What about you? Are you following me?” Joked Lance and wiggled his eyebrows.

“I also live here! I moved in today.”

“So we live right next to each other. Do you know what that means?”

“…No?”

“We can have dates all the time!”

“…No.”

“Yes.”

“Lance, why did you ring the bell?”

“Ah, that, uh, well…” Lance couldn’t give this cake to Keith.

“Were you spying on me? You probably already knew I live here!”

“What?! Keith! This is so lame, I wasn’t spying on anyone!”

“Do you really live here, Lance?”

 _‘Oh, he earned himself this tasty cake’_ Though Lance.

“Yes, I do. We came to meet the new neighbor and to bring them a welcome gift. Here, take this cake and have a great time with it!”

Lance shoved the green pastry in Keith’s hands.

Hunk looked worried as he tugged his dad’s pants. “But, Mr. Keith is nice and the cake is-” Lance put a hand over Hunk’s mouth. “And we give cake to nice people, yeah. Now we must go home and leave Mr. Keith. Bye Keith, see you soon!”

And just like that the small family entered their home.

 

* * *

 

 

As Keith finished with whit eating dinner he tried to decide if today was a good or a bad day.

It had started with a lot of boxes and luggage and saying goodbye to Shiro and Allura. Then he went for a run and met Lance and his kids. This was the turning point. Lance was annoying, hot, stupid, had a great ass and unfiltered for bullshit mouth and brain. He hated losing, much like Keith. He also yelled at old ladies and threw food at stranger’s children, and was always smiling. And he lived right next to him.

As he went to the sink in the kitchen he passed by the counter and saw the cake. Keith cut himself a piece and took a bite, only to spit it out right away.

“What is this thing?!” Keith asked himself. _‘That idiot gave me this shit on purpose! Hunk tried to warm me and he stopped him.’_

Later, when Shiro asked him over the phone, if he had met someone new, Keith answered with:

“Yeah, a psycho dad who forgot his son and verbally abused a dog in the park. Oh, he also turned out to be my neighbor. What? Yes, I did lock my door!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thaaank you so much for the great response to this story! I hope you liked this chapter as well.
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


	3. Monsters

Surprisingly for Keith, the next few days were almost fully Lance-less. Even though the young father had declared, more than once, that they would see each other often, they met only two times. Both of them it was briefly, in the hallway. And even in passing, Lance had the time to drop something stupid like “Are you using your superpowers again? Why is it so hot in here? Oh, it’s just you.”

Nothing spectacular happened to Keith during these days. He still went for a run, at the same park, the same route as the first day. He also finally managed to finally unpack everything.

He constantly repeated in his head that everything was going just fine. This is what he told Allura every night on over the phone, or during the day when texting with Shiro. But the truth was he felt alone. Even when he was in the park, among other people.

He felt the same loneliness he had felt before he was adopted. Yes, he spoke to Allura and Shiro every day, but it wasn’t the same. The apartment was quiet. He sometimes found himself speaking to an empty room. Sometimes, he would hear the sounds of laughter and thuds from Lance’s apartment and that was an even bigger reminder of the family he missed so bad.

On the fifth day he decided to change his routine a little bit and to sit in the park for once. Even though it was a little bit after lunch on a work day, the place was full. A lot of different people, all of them unique. He got so lost in observing all the various personas that he didn’t notice when someone sat next to him.

“Soooo, do you come here often?”

Keith didn’t even look at the man next to him.

“Lance.”

“You look troubled, are you ok?” Keith sensed the concern in Lance’s voice. ‘ _Why does he care? We barely know each other.’_

“Yes Lance, I am ok.” said Keith and finally turned to look his companion. Lance nodded, but clearly he didn’t believe a word.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uuuh, well, this is one of Hunk’s favorite places to play and it’s sunny so-”

Keith sighed. He looked ahead at the playground and saw Hunk climbing a colorful slide. “No, I mean on this bench.”

Lance maneuvered the stroller in which Pidge was sleeping and leaned fully on the bench’s back.

“Can’t I sit next to a friend? Are you waiting for someone? I can move.” Nothing indicated that Lance had the intention to move. He was as relaxed as ever, not even straightening up.

“No, no it’s alright. Nobody is coming.” Deep inside, Keith felt glad for Lance’s company.

“Oh, good. I wasn’t actually going to move.” Keith snorted and nodded.

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“How are you settling? Did you get used to the neighborhood?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.”

They spent the next ten minutes in silence, just watching the people go about their business.

“Did you know there is this promotion. You can buy two boxes of cornflakes and get a small car toy for free.”

Keith scrunched up his face in confusion and turned to Lance. “What?”

“I don’t know, man. I’m just making conversation.”

“… Is it the chocolate kind?”

“Yup.”

Silence followed again. But it wasn’t awkward. At one point Keith stood up.

“I have to go.”

Lance looked up at him. “Oh, ok. Hey, are you free tonight?”

“I don’t know.” At this answer Lance made an annoyed face at Keith.

“How do you not know!? Ok, whatever, there is this match on tonight – Spain vs. Germany. Do you want to come and watch it? I provide beer, food and entertainment.”

“I don’t watch matches.”

“Come on, Keith! A little bit adult time for me, help me, man. Or what, are you afraid you wouldn’t be able to resist my charms? Don’t worry, I share a room with Pidge at the moment, so there is no possibility I would drag you in my bed!”

Keith stood there, staring at Lance, one of his eyes twitching in annoyance. Lance’s smile disappeared and he turned around, busying himself by checking on Pidge. Keith started walking away when he heard from behind him “If it turns out you are free, you know where to find me, it starts at eight. I promise I don’t bite. Much.”

Keith didn’t answer but nodded his head. He didn’t know if he would go. He felt like he wanted to, but why?

That’s what he thought about on his way to the grocery store, where he bought two boxes of chocolate cornflakes and received a small red car.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, are you meeting someone?” Shiro’s voice sounded from the phone.

“What?! No!”

“Why?”

“Should I start dating in order to make you less concerned?”

“I am not talking about dating, Keith. You need to interact with people. Not only over the phone!”

“I do interact with people! I sometimes talk to Lance. He invited me to watch a match tonight. I- I don’t know if I should go.”

“Go! From what you say, he is a nice guy.”

“What? I told you how he forgot his kid once and how he yelled at an old lady at the park. Every time he sees me he has a shitty pick up line at the ready. And he told his children that I am a superhero! He is crazy! And he doesn’t stop flirting. Badly. And he has two kids. I think I already mentioned that.”

“Keith, calm down, you will watch a game, not get married. I am not asking you to go and fuck him. Just… go relax with someone, have a few laughs, drink something. Don’t lock yourself away. Don’t isolate yourself, Keith.”

Keith sighed in defeat. “Yeah, ok. You are right. I will go. Tell Allura I say ‘Hi’.”

“I will. And Keith? I mean it. Don’t lose yourself again.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance had just about given up on having company, when the doorbell rang. He was in the bathroom with Pidge, she sitting on a dinosaur potty and him, providing moral support. And the skill needed to undo the button on her pants. ‘ _Who makes toddler’s pants with buttons?_ ’

“Hunk, ask who is it.”

He heard Hunk running to the door.

“It’s Mr. Keith!”

“Hunk, open the door, please.”

“It’s locked, dad. I can’t.” Lance sighed and looked at Pidge. “Are you done?” She shook her head.

“Dad, isn’t he a superhero? Can’t he open the door with his powers?”

“He can’t use them like that! These powers are only for special occasions, Hunk. Come stay with Pidge for a second, please.”

When his son entered the bathroom, Lance ran and unlocked the front door.

“Ah, sorry for this. So it turned out you are free, huh.”

Keith nodded and entered “Yes, it seems so.”

Lance chuckled and gestured to a couch in front of a big TV. “Sit here, make yourself comfortable, I will come in a second, I just need to clean up.”

“Clean up what?”

“Ah, you don’t want to know.” Lance made a face. At the same time Hunk yelled from the toilet “She is done, dad!”

“I’m coming!”

 

* * *

 

 

The game ended, the kids went to bed a while ago and Keith stayed. By his own will. He actually had a nice time, drinking beer, watching a game he didn’t understand and listening to Lance’s explanations.

Now they were watching some movie. But none of them were paying attention to it. They were discussing military planes. Keith had no idea how Lance knew so much about flying a plane and he didn’t ask. Do be honest he didn’t know much about Lance. What did he work? Did he even? He must, he takes care of two kids. Who is their mother? Where is she? Why is she not here? He didn’t even know how old Lance was.

But it didn’t matter, really. The same way, Lance never asked Keith why he moved. Or about his family, or job. And Keith was very glad about it.

“Hey Keith, you say you don’t know much about piloting, but you can make my plane go up pretty fast sometimes.”

Keith almost chocked on his beer and stared at Lance with widen eyes and shocked expression. Then his look turned deadpan as he leaned back in the couch. _‘Is he for real? He had to say that?’_  

“God, Lance, seriously?! How do you always have the stupidest thing-”

Suddenly, a load cry came from one of the bedrooms. Obviously Pidge was very distressed. Lance put his beer on the ground by the couch and instantly ran in the room. A few moments later the crying quieted and only soft murmurs could be heard.

Keith’s bottle joined Lance’s on the ground, irritation forgotten, as he got up and quietly stepped in the direction of the slightly ajar door where Lance had disappeared. The distance was really short so he didn’t have to make more than three steps in order to see a part of what was going on in the bedroom.

The room was mostly engulfed in darkness. On one of the visible walls Keith could see stars and moons, projected from somewhere, but they were not doing much in regards to lightening up the place. The window right across the door wasn’t covered with curtains, so the full moon was also on display and it seemed as if it illuminated Lance completely, making him stand out in the dark.

Lance was standing in the middle of the room, cradling Pidge. Keith couldn’t see much of the toddler because she was wrapped in a light-green blanket, only her head sticking out, laid on Lance’s elbow, a pacifier moving rhythmically in her mouth. The moonlight made her tears look like small crystals leaving shining trails on her cheeks.

Keith was about to move away as to not disturb them, but what followed held him in place. Lance started moving slowly from foot to foot, slightly rocking his arms as he went. And he started _singing_.

_Close your eyes, lay your head down_

_Now it’s time to sleep_

His voice wasn’t that of a singer, but in the quietness of the night it sounded just right, soft. The words were filled with emotion – love and care.

_May you find great adventure_

_As you lie and dream_

_If you are scared from the darkness_

_I will calm your fear_

It was as if Keith was witnessing an illusion, a mirage. Something that wasn’t a part of his reality. This Lance had nothing to do with the Lance that constantly dropped bad pick-up lines and bad jokes. Keith’s legs refused to move.

_There’s a light in the hallway_

_So you know I’m here_

The moment felt so intimate. So private, that if his brain was listening to him, Keith would have ran from the apartment. He was never sung to like this. He had no memory of such warm experience from his early childhood. There wasn’t time for lullabies in an orphanage. Yes, later, Ms. Takashi had tucked him in and had even read a story to him once, but this was different. It felt different.  For a moment Keith imagined that the slight shine from the moon, that was enclosing the father and his child, was actually an outward projection of their connection, of their love.

“Pidge has very bad nightmares.” Keith almost jumped in surprise. Hunk was standing next to him, clearly half-asleep. The boy rubbed his eyes and tilted his head so he could look at Keith.

“I think monsters get inside her dreams and make them bad. She gets really scared, but in the morning she doesn’t remember much.” Keith nodded his head mutely, never moving his eyes from the scene in the dark bedroom. Hunk tugged slightly at his jeans and that got his attention moving.

“Can you- can you check for monsters in my room? I don’t want to have nightmares like Pidge.” Keith only blinked at the small boy.

“Dad is the best at fighting the monsters! He is so brave and he isn’t afraid of anything! But Pidge needs him right now, and you are a superhero, so…” the kid looked ready to start crying, so Keith patted his head and led him to his bedroom.

He was instructed for the right way to see if any monsters were taking refuge in the wardrobe or under the bed. After showing Hunk that they were the only ones in the room, Keith tucked the boy in bed and closed the door behind him. He exhaled deeply and decided it was probably for the best to go home. For his own good, anyway. So he could be left alone with his thoughts. With his own monsters.

_You are not alone_

_You are right at home_

_Goodnight, goodnight_

These were the last words he heard Lance sing softly as Keith passed by the slightly opened door on his way out.

_You are not alone…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and thank you for reading! Thank you so much for your comments, they are very appreciated, I love seeing your opinion :)  
> I really hope you like this chapter, tell me what you think in the comments :)
> 
> I feel like this chapter has a slightly different feeling than the first two. The song at the end is "Light in the hallway" by PENTATONIX. I personally love it.
> 
> I will try to update as soon as possible. Have a great weekend, or what is left of it :D


	4. Sun

When Keith woke up the next morning he felt tired, as if he hadn’t just slept all night. He was emotionally drained. He had remembered who he was before he gained a family and now that his family is partially broken, he feared he would become the same isolated boy, who lived in his own world of loneliness. He was afraid Shiro would have to see him like this again. As if he didn’t have enough on his own plate already. Keith promised himself he wouldn’t fall back on that path.

With a heavy sigh, Keith headed to the kitchen. While passing by the hallway he noticed something in front of his front door. Stepping closer, he saw a sheet of paper with something written on it with blue crayon.

_‘We are going to the beach today. Do you want to come? Relaxing by the ocean, don’t turn the offer down. You will see me shirtless._

_Circle the dog sticker for a yes, and if you don’t want to come, you have to say it to Hunk personally._

_We’ll be waiting at 10 am XOXOXO’_

Keith snorted to himself and continued his way to the kitchen. He left the note on the counter and started making a sandwich. But it seemed like the blue letters somehow found their way in his sight.

Did he want to go? He actually did. It would be better than being alone all day. Relaxing on the beach seemed like a great idea. And he knew Shiro would want him to go.

And that’s the story about how Keith found himself on the ocean side, overlooking a small detail - going to the beach with two kids is very far from relaxing. Going with Lance is even further from relaxation.

 

* * *

 

 

After finding a good spot to put out their towels and to manage all the bags, Keith finally sat down and took off his shirt, staying only in his swimming shorts. The sun immediately warmed his skin. He laid down on his stomach, closed his eyes and tried to tune out the conversation going on next to him.

“Dad, can I build a sandcastle for Pidge?”

“Yes, what a good idea. We haven’t played Godzilla soon, right? Pidge is always such a nice dinosaur, destroying and bringing terror to sandcastle citizens! Right Pidge?” A loud yell of baby talk followed.

At one point, in between tales about ice-cream and not going in the water alone, Keith must have dozed off. He was suddenly startled when something cold and wet landed on his back.

“Calm down, it’s me! You need to relax, man.” Said Lance as he started smearing the cold stuff on his back.

“What are you doing?”

“Protecting your skin from the sun and getting a feel of your body.” Keith had to admit that Lance had amazing hands. And he knew how to use them. Putting sun cream, turned into a massage. After a few really good shoulder rubs, that almost made Keith voice how good it felt, he bit the inside of his cheek, took a deep breath and turned his head as much as possible so he could see Lance.

“Aren’t you supposed to watch Hunk and Pidge? Not giving free massages?”

“Hunk is on my left, he is trying to build the perfect castle for his sister to destroy, and Pidge is a few meters ahead of us, chasing after the seagulls. I have my dad-radar on, don’t worry.” A few pats on his back and Lance moved away. Keith sat up and finally noticed the state of undress of the young father. And he had to admit it was a worthy sight. He didn’t stop staring until Lance mock-cleared his throat and shook a finger at him. “Mr. Keith, how rude of you to ogle half-naked people. But this half-naked person doesn’t mind.”

“I’m not ogling you!”

“Hmm, ok, maybe it is eye-fucking” At that declaration Keith opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out. He only rolled his eyes at Lance.

“How can you be so vulgar in front of your children?”

“Well, they didn’t hear me! Hunk is up to the ears in sand and Pidge is still – No! Pidge! Come back here! There are actual normal people in there! Do not engage!”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith was laying on his back, enjoying the sun. It was strangely quiet and he wondered if Hunk maybe had covered Lance’s head with sand, because that seemed like the only possibility for a mute Lance. Not that he was complaining. The sound of the waves worked miracles on his mind. Keith propped himself up with the intention of tanning his back. But in the process of rolling over he noticed Lance, who was on the towel directly next to him.

“What the hell! What are you doing!?” exclaimed Keith as he sat up fully. Lance was staring at him with unblinking eyes.

“I am watching you.”

“Yeah, I noticed, you are still watching me.”

“Did you know you exhale 15 times in a minute?”

“What! For how long have you been watching me?!”

Lance’s stone, wide-eyed, unblinking face broke and he started laughing. “I am kidding, man! I just wanted to check if you are asleep.”

Keith squinted his eyes in doubt. “Really? Because I won’t be surprised if you were actually watching me for a long time.”

“Wow, Keith, I am not such a creep. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Will you molest my back with your good looking hands?”

At this Keith sat even straighter, the sound of the ocean long gone in his ears. Lance snorted and started patting the sand away from Keith’s back.

“What I meant is: Will you put some sun cream on my back.”

Keith didn’t move away from Lance’s hand and nodded, taking the offered plastic bottle.

Lance grinned and sat in a way that had his back to Keith, but his eyes to his children.

“Hey, Keith, about last night… I’m sorry we had to cut it short. Emergency dad service was needed and then you were gone, and-”

“It’s ok, don’t worry.”

“We can try for a repeat? New games are coming up next week, if you want…” For once Lance sounded uncertain and not confident. Keith smiled a little to himself as he put some cream on his hand.

“Yeah, that would be ok. But I still don’t understand this sport…” Lance laughed a little at this answer.

“Great! Don’t worry I will teach you everything you need to know! Or perhaps we can watch something else if you-”

“Lance, I don’t mind.” At his response, Keith felt Lance’s shoulders relax under his hands.

“Great.” They stayed in silence after that. In the distance Hunk’s voice explained to his sister why the base of their castle needed to be wider. Just as Keith was about to do Lance’s lower back, he spotted a not so small scar.

Scars were something familiar for Keith. He, himself, had two from bullets and one from a knife. But this one was bigger. It was old, and while it was almost completely faded with the skin, it still was noticeable. Unconsciously, Keith traced it with his finger and that seemed to make Lance tense up.

Immediately Keith took his hands off. “Sorry.”

Lance didn’t say anything at first, his body staying rigid. Then he exhaled deeply and after taking a look at his children he turned towards Keith, a small smile plastered on his face. However, Keith observed, it was different from Lance’s regular smiles. This one wasn’t as full of happiness and it didn’t have a laugh hidden behind it. “Nah, it’s ok. It’s an old thing but it still bothers me for some reason…”

Keith nodded his head in understanding. “I know.” Then he moved the left side of his shorts up, revealing two marks, clearly from bullets. His knife wound was a little bit under his stomach. He showed it, too.

Lance turned to his kids, before facing Keith again. He extended an arm towards Keith, but stopped short of touching him. Their eyes met and Lance asked a quiet “Can I?” Keith’s response was an even quieter “Yes.”

The touch was light. Lance’s finger made contact with one of Keith’s scars, circled it and then lifted off.       

“I was a pilot. An Air force pilot. I have been on a lot of missions. I loved it, the adrenalin, the view, the concept that I was helping people, you know. And then Hunk was born, and an accident happened. I thought I was going to die. The catapult system didn’t work until the very last moment. I got this scar and the nightmares.” Lance paused his story to look at Pidge and Hunk who were laughing at something, waving around plastic colorful paddles.

“It wasn’t the first time I got hurt, but it was the first time I had a reason to want to come back. There was this little creature back home, who had half of my DNA, who I created, who I loved. The possibility of leaving Hunk to grow up without a father frightened me. His mother wanted to give him away, but I insisted we keep him. When I woke up in a hospital I was informed I would need a very long time before I can pilot again. Long story short, I decided to become a family man, who changed diapers, instead to continuing to chase the adrenaline. Five years later I can proudly declare ‘It was worth it’.”

Keith pondered for a minute. “I was with the Special forces. I got hurt pretty bad. My… my mother freaked out so I took a short leave after I recovered. Then _an accident_ happened and I… I can’t go back yet.”

“I see.” Was Lance’s short answer. Suddenly Pidge came running, sitting next to her father and hugging his leg. Keith realized this was the end of this topic and was glad. He was also glad about sharing with someone who understood.

 

* * *

 

 

A short sandwich lunch later, courtesy to Lance, it was finally time for rest. Pidge was asleep on top of Lance, her head under his chin, both of them being under the umbrella. Lance had put Pidge’s small green hat over his face so Keith wasn’t sure if he was asleep.

Hunk was still building a castle, but this time in their feet. Keith got lost in his mind – thoughts varying from bad scars to naked Lance. All of a sudden he felt a tap on his right leg. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. Hunk was kneeling at the end of his towel.

“Do you need something, Hunk?”

The boy nodded and pointed to his work station in the sand. “Can you help me build the best castle, Mr. Keith?” The kid looked so hopeful, Keith couldn’t say no even if he wanted to. So he got up and sat in the sand, doing something he hadn’t done in years – playing.

 

* * *

  

About fifteen minutes had passed. Keith was sitting on Lance’s towel. At some point the father had bent his legs at the knee and now Keith was using them as a place to lean his back. He got to know Hunk and was actually impressed. The child was smart, especially when it came to robots and engineering. He could name a lot of mechanical parts that were alien to Keith. Currently they were discussing what parts would be needed for the creation of a flying castle.

“How cute, you are playing with your son.” Keith and Hunk turned their heads to the source of the voice that interrupted them. It was a tall red-head in a pink bikini, covering almost nothing of anything. She squatted very close next to Keith

“He is not my son.” replied Keith calmly and filled a small bucked with sand.

Suddenly he felt Lance shift behind him and straightened his stance so he wasn’t leaning on him anymore. Then he felt a muscled arm going around his shoulder as Lance was now sitting next to him, his free hand holding Pidge’s small body to his chest. “He is _our_ son.” Lance’s statement was followed by a long kiss behind Keith’s ear. If the black-haired man wasn’t so stunned he would have made a very embarrassing sound. He felt as if all of his blood moved to his head.

The tall female stood there, just as shocked, but for a different reason. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Pidge, now awake, wiggled out of her father’s hold and sat between Lance and Keith, hugging each of their legs closest to her. She tilted her head and studied the stranger. Hunk had lost interest in what was happening a long time ago.

“That’s not right! It‘s disgusting!” the woman was shrieking but still squatting next to them. Pidge took this opportunity to attack. She took her hand off of Keith’s leg and grabbed a fistful of sand, throwing it at the girl’s face while yelling “Brat!”

Lance jumped,  moved Pidge behind him and started yelling with the woman. After a loud but short scandal, the red-head stormed away angrily.

Keith stood up “What was that!?”

“I was protecting my territory!”

“What!? I’m not-”

“She totally was flirting! And she was using my sweet son! Now keep an eye on Hunk while I explain to Pidge that throwing sand is not good behavior.”

“Come back here! Don’t hide behind a toddler!”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance, Hunk and Pidge were in the water. Keith stayed behind because he saw a missed call from Shiro and called back.

“Yeah, I am fine. I’m on the beach.” He almost pictured Shiro’s surprised face.

“Really? By yourself?”

“No, um, with Lance and his kids.”

“Ooook, so last night went good?”

“Mmmm yeah.”

“Do you like him?”

“No!”

“Yeah, right. We will talk later. I called to ask if it’s ok with you if we come to visit tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have nothing to do.”

“Perfect”

 

* * *

  

“Mr. Keith, look what I can do!” Hunk was floating in the water on his back, arms and legs spread wide. Lance was hovering next to him waving his arms around, ready to catch his son if needed. Pidge was sat on Lance’s shoulders, hugging his head, green floaties circling her arms and chest.

They were only a little over their knees in the water, but it was just ok for Hunk.

“Good job.” Acknowledged Keith, not sure what to say exactly, but it seemed like the right thing. Hunk grinned proudly, showing one missing tooth. When the boy put on his swimming ring his father sighted in relief. Lance then turned to Keith with glinting eyes full with mischief. He moved Pidge from his shoulders to Keith’s arms.

Keith, not knowing what to do with a toddler, just held her under her armpits, away from his body. He felt two hands on his back and before he could react, Lance had hoisted himself up, securing his legs around Keith’s waist, hands around his neck. Keith almost fell but somehow managed to keep his balance.

“Sailors, we have a sea monster to kill!” Lance was yelling.

“What are you doing? Are trying to drown me?” asked Keith, his question almost getting lost in Hunk’s joyous “Aye, aye Captain Dad!”

Even Pidge put in her own “ ’ye daddy!” kicking her legs in excitement.

“We’re playing a game! And don’t worry, I will do breathing mouth to mouth if needed. I am the captain and you will be my horse!”

“Are you stupid? Captains don’t have horses. They have ships.” Replied Keith with a matter of fact voice.

Lance snorted in his ear. “Ok, you are my ship. Hey, hold Pidge properly, you are going to drop her, she isn’t radioactive.” Keith looked uncertainly at the small child and moved her closer to his chest, finally setting her on his hip. She giggled when Lance ruffled her hair from his place on Keith’s back.

“Now” declared Lance “if you are a ship, you need a name. I am naming you ‘The Hot Looser’, because you are hot and I always win. Let’s go Hot Looser, let’s take this enemy down!” Keith rolled his eyes and let himself fall back, successfully dunking Lance in the shallow water. Lance hit the bottom pretty much immediately. He sat up instantly, shaking the water off of his hair. Before he opened his eyes he found himself once again under the surface.

Keith kept his right hand on Pidge, to stop her from floating away, while his left was holding Lance underwater. His pressure wasn’t strong at all, so Lance got out pretty fast. He looked at Keith with mock-anger and splashed him with water.

Hunk then jumped on his father. “Captain Dad is down! He is a prisoner for Captain Hunk who is taking over the ship. The ship is now called ‘The Mechanic Superhero’!”

Pidge screamed “ ‘ye!” and took a seaweed piece which was swimming around her, and directed it at Lance. It hit him on the forehead, covering his left eye and part of his nose.

The young father opened his mouth in shock and glared up at Keith, as if it was his fault.

“This is an act of utter betrayal! It’s your fault Hot Superhero ship!”

“It’s Mechanic Superhero, dad, not Hot.”

Keith couldn’t stop staring at Lance, who had his torso sticking out of the water, seaweed plastered on his face, eyes, or one visible eye, wide with fake anger, hands tickling Hunk with one hand, the other dangling Pidge over the water by her foot, the three of them voicing their joy for the whole world to hear. At that moment Keith felt something bubbling inside of him. Something warm that escaped his mouth in the form of a laugh. He wasn’t numb anymore. Something had unlocked inside him today. He was actually feeling… _happy_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> It's a little bit happier than the last one, in my opinion :D We get some backstories, some laughs and a little touchy-touchy :D  
> Have a great weekend :)


	5. Thirsty

The morning went flawlessly. During breakfast at Keith’s, the only discussed topics were Shiro’s future deployment, Allura’s work and how Keith was adapting in the new place. Keith was pleasantly surprised when Shiro didn’t mention Lance, their trip to the beach or them getting together to watch a game.

However, Keith wasn’t stupid. He noticed the looks Allura and Shito were exchanging. They were waiting for something. Waiting for him to speak first. Too bad he wasn’t going to do it.

There wasn’t much to do inside and Allura wanted to look around the area, so the three of them decided to head outside. Keith planned to take them to the park. It was the only place worth seeing in close proximity. He really hoped Lance didn’t chose today for outside activities, a game day or a walk in the park.

Keith really didn’t want Shiro meeting Lance. Just… Keith was afraid, no, not afraid, he was _sure_ Lance would embarrass him. Or himself. Or everyone actually. Keith shuddered at the thought of all the shit Lance could potentially say.

Just as he was done locking the door, Keith’s eyes glued themselves at the end of the hallway, in front of the elevator, where a familiar stroller, a familiar boy and more than familiar man stood. ‘ _Of course_ ’ though Keith, pursing his lips for a second. ‘ _Only he can manage such first impression without actually speaking_.’

Lance was wearing bright blue shorts with cartoon animal prints on them. They matched perfectly the ones Hunk and Pidge were dressed in, respectively in yellow and green. The father was leaning on the stroller in which Pidge was strapped. She was flapping around a dinosaur plushie and a robot toy. Hunk was holding the handles of a scooter, a helmet covering his head. He was continuously pushing the elevator button. Lance, with his absurdly bright shorts, leaning sexily on the side, was drinking something from a green sippy cup. The colored cup looked ridiculous in contact with Lance’s mouth but it didn’t seem to bother him.

Pidge, looking the opposite way of her father and brother because of the stroller, was the first one to notice Keith. Her eyes widened, a smile coming up her face.

“Kit! Kit!” her happy shouts filled the hallway. Lance immediately turned around, straightening his back, eyes instantly finding Keith’s.

“Keith! What a pleasant surprise. Aren’t you a sight to be seen on such a sunny- Oh! You are with friends!”   

Allura and Shiro were watching with clear amusement. Keith rubbed his neck and sighed.

“Yeah, this is my brother Shiro and his girlfriend Allura.” Shiro nodded and smiled in greeting. Allura waved at the kids and smiled at Lance.

Lance grinned and extended his hand for a proper greeting. “My name is Lance” then he pushed the stroller slightly forward and moved the canopy fully back. “This is Pidge and my other pride and joy is Hunk.” Hunk had put his scooter on the floor, along with his helmet and was standing in front of Shiro.

“If you are Mr. Keith’s brother then you are a superhero too!” the boy was looking up at Shiro with eyes full with wonder and excitement. The man felt very confused for a second.

“Mmm I don-”

“Ohhh! You have a robotic arm! Is that your superpower?” Hunk was about to grab said arm when Lance put a hand on his shoulder, halting the movement. His expression was serious, his ton strict.

“Hunk! This is very rude!” then he turned with apologetic eyes to Shiro “I’m so sorry! Really, he just-”

Shiro smiled and shook his head. “Don’t worry, it’s not a problem. I had enough time to get used to it. And yes Hunk, my hand is indeed half robotic! It’s a new product. You can touch it if you want to.”

Hunk’s eyes widened as his fingers made contact with the metal. “It’s so smooth! Do you move it with your brain? Or do you have a remote? What kind of parts is it made of?” Shiro chuckled at the child’s questions, actually impressed with his level of knowledge.

“Now, now Mr. Engineer, calm down, leave Shiro and pick up your scooter.” Lance had put a hand on his son’s head, ruffling his hair affectionately. “And don’t forget the helmet. We don’t want to lose your brain somewhere.” The boy ducked from under Lance’s touch and went to the elevator, where his scooter was laying.

“It’s really nice to meet such a beautiful lady and the man who knew Keith when he was an awkward teenager” Keith closed his eyes in annoyance at Lance’s words.

Allura smiled “It was nice to meet the person who is making Keith feel so welcome here! Thank you, Lance.”

Lance looked stunned for just a moment and then smiled widely again “Ah, no problem. Keith is _very_ nice to welcome.”

“You kicked a ball to my head as a greeting.” deadpanned Keith. Lance rolled his eyes.

“It was an accident.”

“On purpose.”

“You have no proof!”

“You admitted it!”

“I didn’t!”

Shiro and Allura were observing with great amusement. Their little verbal fight was cut short by Pidge. She threw her dinosaur, her eyes watering. “Play! P’ease, daddy! Play now!” Lance picked up the toy and crouched next to the stroller.

“Here you go, Pidge.” He said giving her the plushie. “No tears now. We are going out. Daddy is sorry.” He smoothed her hair back from her face and then brushed away the few tears that had escaped. Then he stood up and looked at Hunk. “You ready to go?” The boy nodded and pushed the elevator button again.

“It’s not coming, dad. Maybe it’s broken.”

Lance exhaled very deeply, glaring at the metal door that wasn’t opening.

“We are taking the stairs then.” He turned to Keith and company. “You go first, we will take a lot of time and space.” laughed Lance gesturing to the stroller.

Keith raised an eyebrow.

“Can you manage to take everything by yourself?”

Lance huffed. “Yes. I have been doing it for two years now.”

“Let us help. It will be faster this way, you won’t lose more playing time.” Spoke Shiro, winking at Pidge.

Lance had one hand inside the basket of the stroller, looking for something, still facing the other people in the hallway.

“Don’t worry, I just need to find Pidge’s shoes so she can walk down the stairs with Hunk while I carry the wheels in this operation.”

Only then Keith noticed that Pidge was wearing only socks on her feet. Allura was the one to ask the question he had in his head.

“Why is she without shoes?”

The young father laughed before answering. “She likes to take them off, sometimes even throwing them at people.”

“Or dogs” added Keith, moving around Lance.

“Hahaha, yes, that too. So I decided to take the ammo out of the gun. It’s warm anyway.”

Keith was fiddling with Pidge’s buckle when Lance finally found her tiny sandals.

“Keith, this is called kidnapping.”

“Don’t be stupid, Lance. Accept help when people offer it.” said Keith, Pidge sitting in his arms. Lance took a deep breath and nodded. He picked up the stroller, now free of a toddler, and started descending the stairs. It was a light one so it wasn’t a struggle to get it down fast. The hard part usually was having a six-year old walking in front of him while helping his little sister not to trip and break her neck. Going outside when the elevator was broken and Pidge hadn’t learned to walk yet is a tale he preferred not to tell.

Allura was walking with Hunk while Shiro grabbed the scooter. The boy insisted he could have carried it without a problem, however, when ‘robotic arm superhero’ wanted to try it, there was no way he could say no.

Shiro looked at Keith. The man seemed surprisingly comfortable holding a small child.

“You look like you know what you are doing.” commented jokingly Shiro. Keith huffed and readjusted Pidge slightly, the girl was holding on tightly on his shirt with one hand, the other was partially in her mouth, hiding a big content grin.

“Hm, it’s easy, she isn’t radioactive.” Lance heard Keith’s words and snorted loudly.

“Aren’t you an expert now. You should try changing a diaper or-OW! You see what you did Keith, I almost fell down because of you distracting me. Why didn’t anybody tell me there was a step there?”  

“You are walking down the stairs, Lance. There are steps everywhere.” deadpanned Keith.

 

* * *

 

 

Allura, Keith and Shiro took a very long walk around the area. After departing with Lance and the kids, no one said anything specific beside the comments on how cute Hunk and Pidge were.

An hour was the longest Allura was able to keep herself from praying deeper in the matter of the Lance and Keith situation.

“You like him.” It was a statement, not a question. It wasn’t even needed to specify who she was talking about.

Keith’s answer was a short “No.”

Allura thinned her lips. A warning “Keith.” was enough to make said man confess.

“Ok, fine, I.. do… _li-like_ him. A lot. And it’s annoying me as hell.”

“Why?” asked Shiro confused.

“Because Lance is… Lance. You saw him. He is weird sometimes. And hot as hell. And wears the same clothes as his kids apparently, and somehow they still make his ass look great. And on top of him having amazing body, he is actually pretty funny and interesting when he isn’t weirding me out. Did I mention he has two children?”

“You really like him and you are trying to come up with reasons not to like him. Your reasons are shit.”

“Thanks, Shiro.”

“Ask him out.” Allura cut in, moving to stand between the two boys, hooking an arm in elbow with each of them.

“I can’t! I don’t know how to! He looks like an expert on that part.”

Shiro laughed loudly which made Keith angry. “Don’t laugh at me!” Shiro put a hand over his mouth, trying to stop his laughter.

“Ok, sorry, I’ll stop. Look, it’s obvious he likes you. You shouldn’t be worried about that.”

“I am not worried about it!” denied Keith.

“Mhm” hummed Allura and tugged a little at Keith’s hand. “You like him, you like his kids, they are nice to you, he invites you places, and you wish to get him in bed and to-”

“Stop!” yelled Keith.

“Why don’t you try his own game? ” proposed Shiro.

“What? Like _flirt_ with him?”

“Yes. You say he always has a pick-up line at the ready, try the same tactic.”

“A pick-up line… flirting… I can show him I am better than him at this too!”

“This is not a competition, Keith!”

 

* * *

 

 

“Daaad, I can’t find two matching socks!”

Lance looked over his shoulder at Hunk who was standing at the bathroom’s entrance, sockless, his hair wet.

“Doesn’t matter bro, just find two clean ones.” Then he turned back to Pidge in the bath. She was playing with a rubber ship. “We must do the laundry tomorrow, huh, Pidge?”

The girl giggled at him and splashed more water on his already soaked body. “Yes, thank you, now I don’t need a shower. You are so eco, saving water. Aren’t you my smart Pidgeon?” Lance tickled her, making her laugh happily.

He stood up, taking Pidge with him, wrapping her in fluffy orange towel with a duck hood. Suddenly the bell rang.

“Daad, someone is ringing the bell!”

“I heard it, Hunk.”

“Should I check who is it?”

“No, you put your socks on and choose a book for story time.” After he made sure Hunk is indeed on the hunt for socks, Lance went to unlock and open the door.

Keith was feeling nervous for some reason. He thought it was stupid to feel like that. Lance was flirty all the time so it shouldn’t be hard, right? Lance opened the door and suddenly the plan in Keith’s head vanished. It was replaced by the sight of almost completely naked Lance.

Lance was only in his underwear, his body wet in places, something that reminded Keith about yesterday on the beach and Lance massaging him, and jumping on him, and skin on skin contact and good stuff in general.

Keith then noticed the orange fluff ball in Lance’s arms, Pidge was covered completely, her head under a cute hood, her face hidden in her father’s shoulder.

“Keith, do you need something?” questioned Lance confused.

Before Keith could stop his brain, his mouth opened:

“This may seem corny, but you make me really horny.” He immediately put both of his hands over his mouth, eyes widening. He moved his gaze from Lance’s face to his abs, then back to his face. _‘I can’t believe this came out of my mouth!’_

Lance, on his part, was blinking blankly as if unable to process what exactly happened. All of a sudden he snorted very loudly, then he laughed even louder, tears forming in his eyes.

Keith, still covering his mouth with his left hand, moved silently and reached for the door handle. He shut the door closed, blocking some of Lance’s hysterical laughter. Embarrassed, more like mortified by what just took place, Keith went back to his apartment.  As he was entering, Lance reopened his door and yelled after Keith.

“Don’t shut my own door in my face! And tie your shoes! I don’t want you falling for anyone else!”

Keith glared at Lance and locked his door, leaning against it, breathing deeply. He could hear Lance outside. It was hard not to when he was shouting.

“Your body is 75% water, and I am thirsty. I’m thirsty, Keith! Oh, sorry Mrs. Carol, Pidge say hi to dear Mrs. Carol.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> Today we see Keith trying to outplay Lance and it didn't work out for him. Or so he thinks right now :D I have to thank the internet for the very bad pick-up lines :D 
> 
> Have a great weekend :)


	6. Date

“What the hell, Lance?!”

Keith was spread on the dusty ground of an abounded building with Lance sitting astride him.

“I win!” declared Lance, discarding his gun to the side, along with his helmet. He took off Keith’s helmet too and then leaned to put both of his hands on the side of his head.  Their faces were so close together that Lance could feel Keith’s warm breath on his skin. Keith locked eyes with the other man, body not moving at all.

“Actually, Lance” started Keith, moving his left hand, putting it on the small of Lance’s back. “You lose!” his right hand was holding his weapon to Lance’s side, the tip of it hitting the special material protecting Lance’s chest and sides.

As Lance widened his eyes in realization, Keith pressed the trigger.

“Aw, man. Well, you won this battle, but I’ll win the war!” promised Lance as he slacked fully on Keith, letting his head lay next to Keith’s in the dust.

“What war? What are you doing?” asked Keith, his concentrated until now expression twitching a little, because Lance’s hair was tickling him on the cheek. His hand was still on Lance’s back.

“I’m dead. You killed me, remember?” This time Keith’s whole body shivered as a result of Lance’s warm breath right behind his ear.  However, Lance didn’t stop at that. He let himself be guided by his desire and licked the back of Keith’s earlobe from bottom to top.

Keith’s eyes widened and he managed to hold back most of his loud moan only by biting his lips. This was a very sensitive spot for him and it seemed Lance knew it. Keith fisted a hand in Lance’s hair, pulling at his head.

“Ngh! Mmm. You don’t seem very dead to me.”

Lance grinned but before he could reply, he found himself on his back, underneath Keith, who was now using Lance’s chest as support, still keeping their faces close to each other. The black-haired man was smirking at Lance’s surprised expression.

“Boys, your session is over-Hey! What are you doing! Get out of here if you are going to make out instead of playing!”

Both males jumped at the new voice. Keith stood up as fast as he could, almost falling on his butt in hurry. Once upright, he offered a hand to help Lance up.

Lance sighed in annoyance that such a moment was interrupted and turned angrily at the instructor that had found them.

“We weren’t making out. Only because of you.”

The third man didn’t seem to care about that. “Why are your helmets off? You must to keep them on all the time while on the terrain.”

Lance huffed, crossing his arms. “It was just the two of us here. And how were we supposed to make out if our faces are covered?”

Keith didn’t say anything. He too was feeling irritated for the interruption.  He didn’t even bother to save the man from Lance’s verbal attack.

“This is not a place for such things!”

“It’s not written anywhere in the rules! Show me the ‘Do not kiss or make out’ paragraph!”

The worker looked at Lance as if the man was mad.

“People come here to shoot at each other, not to exchange saliva!”

 

***Some hours earlier***

 

“Keith! You can’t hide forever! Come on!”

Lance was alternating ringing the bell and knocking on the door. It was going on for around five minutes. Keith looked stubbornly at the door. He wasn’t going to open it. That would mean facing Lance and acknowledging what had happened yesterday.

“Look, I won’t even call you Mr. Corny-horny as I wanted to! I promise! Ooops, I just did, sorry.”

Keith glared even harder at the door.

“I have a great proposition! Let’s go on a date.” Lance waited for an answer but none came so he continued. “I found a place I think you’ll like. I even called some back-up. It will be just the two of us, but we have to be back by ten, because my back-up has bedtime.”

Lance hit the door one more time. “Come on, man. A date, it’s not even our first date. You will like it, I swear. I won’t use any pick-up lines. How about that?”

As Lance was about to give up, the door opened.

“It is our first date, actually.”

Lance grinned widely in response. “No! Don’t deny our bonding moments, Keith!”

Keith ignored him and leaned on the wall, trying not to look interested. “What’s this place you want to go to?”

“It’s a surprise! Be ready at seven.” With that said, Lance went to return to his apartment.

 Keith straightened up. “Hey! I haven’t agreed yet!”

“Dress casual and put on comfortable shoes.” Lance didn’t even turn around when he responded.

 

* * *

 

 

A paintball course definitely wasn’t something Keith expected. It was a very pleasant surprise. After receiving all the appropriate gear, ammo and instructions, they were lead to a big abandoned storehouse that was one of the offered terrains. Each of them entered from a different place.

Keith had to admit it felt very freeing in some way. Running around, taking cover, aiming. The excitement of the hunt. All of this was rather familiar for both men. Their previous training was making this game even more interesting. They were pretty serious about the whole thing, completely immersed in the chase, no jokes were exchanged, not even teasing, no kind of conversation at all.

At some point Lance had managed to sneak up on Keith and to sit on him, and to make him feel good. Then Keith was sitting on Lance and the hunt and guns were long forgotten. Until they were rudely interrupted. And quickly kicked out.

Once they reached their building, Lance invited Keith for a drink, to which Keith agreed.

When they entered Lance’s apartment they weren’t greeted by the silence Keith expected. Instead of sleeping children and quiet babysitter, there was quite the commotion.

For a moment Keith thought there was an intruder. In the middle of the hallway was standing a very tall young boy. His hair was painted purple. He had pierced ears. Very pierced at that. And he had a laughing Hunk hanging from his neck, so maybe he wasn’t an intruder. Lance didn’t seem concerned too, so definitely not an intruder.

The teenager greeted the two adults with a nod. “You are early Lance.”

Lance took off his shoes and fully entered, taking his son on his way inside.

“Ah, yes. Unfortunate turn of events. The place turned out to be cool but the staff was annoying. By the way, this is Keith. Keith meet Dak.”

Keith, now standing next to Lance, raised an eyebrow at the young boy. What kind of name was Dak.

Dak huffed in irritation. “Sendak. Call me Sendak.”

“Edgy, huh?” snorted Lance and started looking around. “Where is the little dinosaur? And why aren’t they asleep?”

Sendak shrugged his shoulders. “You know Hunk doesn’t go to bed without you checking for monsters. Pidge fell asleep, but then woke up crying and looking for you. I think she is hiding under the table in the kitchen.” The teenager was already at the door, ready to leave. He only patted Hunk on the head as he passed him and took some money from Lance.

After Sendak left, Keith turned to Lance.

“What kind of name is Sendak? Where did you find this guy?”

“His name is Derrick. He lives on the floor under us. He is sixteen and last year he decided Derrick was way too common and casual. It’s lacking the tone of despair, anger, rebellious spirit and anxiety that teenage-hood brings, you know. He came up with Sendak, then he painted his hair purple, his mother went insane on him for it. Then his father went even more insane on him when he pierced his ears more than ten times.”

While explaining Lance moved to the kitchen, Keith following him closely.

“He is actually a very nice kid. He is very patient with children and he even makes the right voices when he reads bedtime stories. Hey, Pidge, come out to say hi to Keith.”

Pidge immediately crawled from under the table and run at full force towards Lance and Keith. She hugged a leg from each of them, rubbing her face in the material of their jeans. Then she tilted her head back and shouted “NO SEEPING, DADDY!”

Lance snorted loudly and put Hunk down.

“Wow, who made you boss, huh?” then he addressed Hunk. “Get ready for bed. Choose a book.”

The boy nodded, hugged his father a final time, waved at Keith and disappeared in his room. Pidge was now in her father’s arms, sucking on her thumb. Keith noticed she looked very sleepy, but every time her eyes dropped closed she would open them wide. He also noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Keith, beer is in the fridge, there should be some food too. Make yourself comfortable, I need half an hour and I’ll join you. Don’t run away this time.”

 

* * *

 

Hunk went down without a problem. Pidge, on the other hand, was still awake. And she wasn’t happy about it. It was clear she was tired, but she put a great effort to not succumb to sleep.

Lance sighed deeply as he exited his bedroom, a blanket cocoon in his arms with Pidge sticking out of it. Instead of her finger, she was sucking on a pacifier now.

Keith looked away from the movie he was watching. “I can leave, it’s no problem. If you need to-”

“No! No, don’t worry. She’ll be asleep soon. I have a secret weapon.” Protested Lance, coming to sit next to Keith on the couch. “I’m sorry Keith, really.”

“What? Why? It’s not your fault, or even her fault. It happens, especially with younger children.” Keith could remember helping sometimes with the younger kids in the orphanage.

Lance smiled gratefully. “Thanks. Hey, do you mind keeping an eye on her, I need a minute in the kitchen.”

Keith nodded in agreement and Lance put the blanked-wrapped toddler next to Keith, so she was leaning on him. She snuggled a little into his side, the pacifier never stopping its rhythmic movements in her mouth.

Shortly, Lance returned with a feeding bottle full with milk in hand. He sat on the other side of Pidge and took her back in his arms. After a few moments to get comfortable, which was pretty much taking Pidge’s previous position of being glued to Keith’s side, Lance positioned his daughter so she was cradled. He then removed the pacifier and replaced it with the feeding bottle. Pidge started drinking the milk.

“Once in a while we have such moments.” said Lance to Keith, patting softly Pidge’s back in rhythm with her sucking. “I got her off feeding bottles when she was a little over year old. But sometimes, like today, she needs the comfort. I haven’t used it in more than three months. I almost had forgotten where I put it.” Lance laughed a little at himself.

“Is it because of her nightmares?” asked Keith. He noticed how Pidge was blinking very heavily now.

“I think so. Most of the time she doesn’t remember them or she just can’t explain what she saw. But she remembers the fear she wakes up with. It must be scary to be so tiny and to be this afraid of something you can’t really explain.” Lance smiled softly at Pidge, who was still drinking from the bottle, however, now her eyes were fully closed.

“Yeah…” agreed Keith. A few moments passed in silence.

“What an end of a date.” started Lance. “Talking about feeding bottles, you must be so charmed right now.”

“I really don’t mind.” answered honestly Keith. Lance was about to say something but instead choose to start humming. The tune was very familiar to Keith. It was the song he heard Lance sing before.

Keith leaned his head back and closed his eyes, letting the soft melody take over his senses. It didn’t go on for more than two or three minutes, but it was enough for Keith to drift off to sleep.

He was startled when Lance kicked him lightly in the leg. Keith opened his eyes and saw the young father standing up. Pidge was completely asleep, her head partially hidden in her dad’s chest, bottle now half empty, sitting on the table in front of Keith.

“Choose a movie or something to watch. And get me a beer, please. I’ll put her to bed and I’ll be back.”

  

 

* * *

 

Two hours, way too many beers and some cold pizza leftovers later, Lance and Keith were watching a documentary on lions. They were mostly staring blankly at the TV, trying not to fall victim to sleep.

Keith rubbed his face tiredly. “I’ll call it a night, Lance.”

Lance looked at Keith and then pushed him to lie fully on the couch.

“Let’s have a sleepover!” Lance’s exclamation was muffed at the end, because the man had put his face in Keith’s hair, body curling around Keith’s on the limited space on the couch.

“Lance, move.”

“Do you really want to get up, go all the way to your apartment, then all the way to your bed so you could sleep alone? If you do, I’ll let you.”

_‘No, I don’t want to’_ thought Keith. It seemed so far away. And this couch felt comfortable enough. Only one thing wasn’t exactly right.

“Lance.”

“Hmm?”

“Your hand is on my ass.”

“I know.”

“Move it. I can’t sleep with your wrist under my hip like that.”

Lance wiggled, poking Keith a few times with a knee or an elbow, finally settling down. Now his head was under Keith’s chin, one of his hands again found Keith’s ass, but this time being on top of Keith’s body, not underneath it.

“Why don’t you go to your bed, Lance?”

Keith received no answer. He felt the slow rhythmic breathing signaling sleep. Keith sighed and reached to pull at the blanked that was draped over the back of the sofa. He covered himself and Lance with it, letting his hand rest at Lance’s waist.

He didn’t know if it was from physical tiredness or from the beers, or perhaps a combination of both things, but Keith was asleep in minutes.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> A real date this time, what do you think? :D 
> 
> Have a great weekend! :)


	7. Voltron

The first thing Keith became aware of when he woke up was the stiffness in his back. Judging by the position of his body, Lance’s breath on his neck and the hand on his ass, he could easily guess that nobody moved at all during the night. Not that there was much room to move around in. Keith kept his eyes closed, taking in the warmth from the body lying almost on top of him. 

The screaming protests from his back and muscles were put on hold as the man was on his way to dreamland once again. And then he heard something.  It sounded like footsteps. Keith ignored it, if he could ignore the pain in his back, he could ignore someone walking around. That was the logic his sleepy brain used. And it worked just fine with him.

However, there was something he couldn’t ignore - the feeling that someone was watching him. Keith could almost feel the eyes burning holes in his head.  His first thought was _‘It’s so unusual for Shiro to be doing this.’_ Then his mind cleared enough to remember that he doesn’t live with Shiro or even close to him anymore, that he was in Lance’s apartment with said man practically drooling on him. And a very important detail was that the drooling man didn’t live alone.

Keith’s eyes instantly snapped open. Hunk was standing by the couch, still wearing pajamas, staring at the two men. Keith stared right back.

“Mr. Keith, its morning now.” Hunk’s voice was very clear, not at all laced with sleep. He was probably awake for a long time. Keith wasn’t sure what to say. _‘What’s that supposed to mean? Does he want me to get up and go home? To get away from his father?’_

When Keith didn’t respond, Hunk sighed and pointed in the direction of the kitchen. “We should have breakfast now. I’m hungry.”

_‘Ah, yes, ok, food, not being kicked out.’_ Keith continued blinking sleepily at the boy. The only answer he got out of his lips was something between ‘yeah’ and ‘ok’.

When Hunk saw no one was going to move he pouted and threw himself on top of his father. Keith felt the full force of the landing and groaned almost in synch with Lance.

Lance tried to turn around but it was close to impossible without pushing Hunk to the ground.

“Wake up, dad!”

“I’m awake, stop bouncing. And move that knee of yours, it’s in the forbidden zone.”

Hunk stilled completely and leaned so he was shouting directly in Lance’s ear. “Let’s eat, dad! It’s morning!”

“Ugh, Hunk! Too loud. It’s too early to be this loud! Go brush your teeth while we get up.” The boy jumped off the couch, stopped to give a noisy kiss to Lance’s cheek and ran away.

Keith and Lance stayed as they were, enjoying the moment of silence. Keith could feel Lance’s breathing evening out.

“Lance, don’t fall asleep. Get up!”

Two minutes later both of them were softly snoring.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance opened his eyes again when he was patted on the face. Then it was tugging his hair and even pocking in his ear.

“I’m up, Hunk. Dad is awake.”

“You’re not up!”

Suddenly, Lance jumped up and caught his son, tickling him, making the boy holler in laughter.

Keith covered his head with the blanket and tried to isolate himself from the noise. He wondered how Lance was able to switch from barely awake to fully functioning fingers in just a second.

He must have dozed off right there, head fully under the blanket, the joyous sounds of laughter in the background.

Next thing he knows something is being put on top of him. He peeked from under the cover and saw Pidge looking at him with eyes just as heavy with sleep as his own, pacifier moving rhythmically in her mouth. Lance was keeping a hand on her back. When he was sure Keith was aware enough, he removed his hand and disappeared somewhere, saying something about making breakfast.

Pidge and Keith stayed like that, with her on top of his chest and him not daring to move, not sure what to do. Hunk joined them, sitting at Keith’s feet and turning the TV on, after the permission of his dad. When he got comfortable, Hunk started questioning Keith.

“Did you have a sleepover whit dad?”

“Uuh, yeah?”

Hunk nodded and grinned. “He is the best at cuddles, right?”

“Um, yes, he is pretty good…” Keith felt awkward for no reason at all. It was just a kid being curious and naïve. Yet, he was afraid he was going to say something he wasn’t supposed to. ‘ _It’s not like we even did something…’_

“Do you like Galactic Robots?” now the boy was intensely concentrated on the TV screen, where cartoon robots were fighting each other. Keith shook his head and tried to adjust himself when Pidge started slipping to the side.

“I don’t think I have watched it.” His answer seemed to shock Hunk. The boy stood up, still on the couch, almost toppling over and falling on his sister.

“YOU DON’T KNOW GALACTIC ROBOTS?!”

“Hunk! Inside voice!” yelled Lance from the kitchen. Hunk plopped down again and patted Keith’s knee.

“Don’t worry Mr. Keith, I’ll tell you everything about it. This episode is when they fight for the biggest space ship in the universe! The good guys have this cannon that goes ‘BOOM’ and ‘WOOSH’ the bad guys have laser guns-”

Keith watched the cartoon and he had to admit it didn’t seem that bad. An episode later Lance came to call them to the kitchen. Keith was still lying down, Pidge still on him, both of them watching the TV, while Hunk was sitting close to Keith’s chest, explaining and answering when asked a question by the black-haired man. Lance snapped a photo of them with his phone and then ushered them away from the robots.

 

* * *

 

 

The park was full as usual. The day wasn’t very sunny, but it still was warm. Lance had managed to convince Keith to accompany them to a ‘play date’. At the beginning Keith thought about declining, but when he remembered his empty apartment he decided he didn’t have anything better to do today.

So here he was, once again sitting on a bench in the park with Lance. Hunk was running around nearby, while Pidge was digging in a sandpit.

“So who are you meeting?”

Keith’s question made Lance look at him as if he had two heads. “What?”

“You said a play date. Isn’t that when kids meet other kids to play?”

“Usually yes. But I meant that Hunk and Pidge would be playing while we do the dating part.” laughed Lance. Keith rolled his eyes and took out his phone to text Shiro.

Some time passed with Keith and Lance on their bench date. They got into a game of discussing the parents around the playground. Mostly Lance was gossiping, sharing everything he knew about the mothers and fathers of the other children. Keith only nodded from time to time in agreement, attention fully on the subject of their discussion.

All of a sudden Hunk jumped in front of them.

“Dad, look! I found a doggy!”

“Oh, nic- OH! WHAT THE QUIZNAK IS THIS MONSTER!” Lance’s panicked yell almost made Keith burst out laughing. Almost. Only if the dog wasn’t a real monster. It was almost taller than Hunk at the head and its body was longer than Pidge’s stroller.

Lance tugged Hunk behind him eyes never leaving the animal, as if expecting it to jump at them at any moment.

“Where did you find it?!”

“He was playing all by himself, dad. I was scared ‘cause he is all big but then he kissed me and now I love him, dad!”

Lance’s expression got even more panicked. “He kissed you! He licked you! Where! Hunk, show me! What if he is sick?!”

Hunk looked with wide eyes between the dog and his father. “But dad! He isn’t sick! He is just lonely.”

“Lonely?! Hunk! Do you see how big this animal is? Your sister’s head can fit inside his mouth!” Lance was almost hysterical by this point, waving his hands around, breathing deeply. Keith stepped next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.  

“Calm down, Lance! It’s just a dog. His owners are probably here somewhere.”

“Oh, no, Mr. Keith. He is alone here.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know!”

Lance hugged Hunk to him, as if to protect him from the dog. “We are going home! Keith, guard my baby while I grab my other baby.”

“Dad, we are taking him with us, right?”

“What!? No!”

Hunk’s eyes watered in just mere seconds and he kneeled next to the dog, hugging him around the neck.

“You can’t leave him alone here! You can’t! I’ll stay here too!”

Keith was shocked. He had never seen Hunk so distressed. The kid looked pretty calm all of the time. And now he was crying his eyes off for the whole park to hear. Lance looked just as surprised. His son has never had a tantrum. Not even when he was denied chocolate or candy. Not even when Pidge broke his favorite car toy. He would cry or sulk angrily, but never make such a scene.

The dog let out a whine and licked the boy on the face. Lance had the urge to take his kid and run away. But he didn’t. ‘ _Be calm, Lance. Patience.’_

“Keith, can you get Pidge, please.” Keith nodded and headed towards the sandpit. He saw Lance sitting down next to Hunk, running a hand comfortingly on his back.

Pidge was so immersed in the sand that she didn’t notice Keith at first. He stood there at the edge of the small construction, not sure what to do. A mother on the other side, heavily pregnant, was looking at him strangely and he decided to just grab the toddler and move away. However, grabbing her without saying anything and from her back scared Pidge and she made a loud sound of protest, sounding very much like a cry which alerted the woman, making her move closer to them.

“Hey! Leave the child! You freak!”

Keith fastened his steps, trying to get away from the woman. That only made her screams louder. That’s when Pidge saw who was holding her and stopped struggling and crying. “Kit! Kit!” she exclaimed happily and took a hold of his hair with a sandy hand.

The sign of recognition from the child made the woman back off, but she never stopped glaring. When they made it back Hunk was smiling, hugging his dad. The dog was sitting down, wiggling his tail.

Keith quickly passed Pidge to her father, making her join the family hug.

“I think I was very close to getting beaten by a pregnant woman.”

Lance snorted.  “Why?”

“I don’t know! I just took Pidge, but she started crying and this woman started yelling at me and chasing me, calling me a freak!” Keith’s confused face made Lance actually laugh.

“She thought you were a child molester or something! You don’t just grab kids, Keith.”

Keith huffed. “I’m not a molester! Do I look like one? And what was I supposed to do? Do you not carry small kids to get them from point A to point B?”

“That’s not the point!” Lance was trying to stifle his laughter in Pidge’s hair.

“Whatever! Are we going? What will you do with the dog?”

“We will take him to the veterinary clinic to see if he is chipped so we can find his owners.”

“I’m naming him Voltron, Mr. Keith!” Hunk was jumping with joy. Pidge, already in her stroller, was doing her hardest to reach the dog and touch him. Lance moved the stroller so she could pet the dog, never taking his eyes off it.

“You are not naming him! He probably has a name.”

“He doesn’t. His name is Voltron now!”

Lance murmured something under his nose and started walking.

“What kind of name is Voltron anyways?”

“Dad! It’s the coolest in the universe! Come on Voltron, you are coming home with us!”

“Lance, what if his owners are here? Shouldn’t we ask around?” Keith was walking next to Lance.

“A man told me this dog has been here for a few days. He is just lost. We may even get a reward!”

“Lance, you know that this dog is staying with you, right?”

“Ah, about that, you have more free space…”

“No way! Your kid found it, it’s yours!”

“Come on, man! Just for today, tomorrow he is out of our hairs.”

“Your hair. Not ours.”

“Is that what I get after taking you to such a nice date, huh?” Lance was trying to keep a straight face, but Keith could easily tell he was joking. “Hey, Keith, about last night, sorry if I made you uncomfortable or something…”

“Lance I’m an adult. I could have gone home if I wanted to.” said Keith. With the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar face. “Lance isn’t this the old lady with the-”

He couldn’t finish because suddenly there was a lot of barking and shouting. It was the old lady with the small dog Pidge had targeted once. Said small dog was barking furiously at the enormous animal at Hunk’s side.

The bigger dog didn’t react at first, he only stepped away. But, when the small creature came close to the stroller and Pidge, making the toddler tense up because of the angry barking and the jumping of the pincher, Voltron suddenly started responding with barks of his own. Keith jumped into action, making sure to keep Voltron from actually biting the dog or the woman.

“Didn’t I tell you to keep your Benny away from us?!” Lance was yelling, while moving the stroller from the jumping tiny dog.

“Keep your monster on a leash! How rude! How disrespectful! Youth these days! And he has children…”

“What do you have against my cute children, huh? Hag.”

“Voltron is not a monster!” Hunk had joined his father in the argument and Keith wasn’t sure how exactly to keep the big animal from doing anything.

“Lance, let’s go!”

“AH! What a bad boy of a son you have! Speaking to elders in that way! But with you as a father it’s not a surprise!”

“Keep your mouth shut, hag! Don’t speak to my son that way! He is smarter than you and he is only six!”

“Lance! Come on!” Keith was ignored again.

“And your Benny? My dog can eat him for breakfast and it won’t be enough! Get your mouse out of Voltron’s way!”

The woman tugged at Benny’s leash and moved away, never stopping arguing with Lance. He also didn’t stop. When she was out of their hearing range, Voltron sat down and licked at Pidge’s ankle where her skin was naked, making the girl giggle loudly. Hunk sat next to the dog, patting him on the head.

“Really, Lance? Really!?” deadpanned Keith. So far, every time they went out together somewhere it ended in a similar situation. ‘ _And to think that if I had gone home the first day, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.’_

Keith looked at Lance who was frantically cleaning Hunk’s face with a wet wipe where the dog had licked him. For some reason he was grateful he was here. With Lance. And not alone.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> New addition to the family! Yey! :D Also, some morning fluff.   
> Have a great weekend! :)


	8. Control

“Mr. Keith, can I go see the doggies?”

Keith looked up from where he was crouched next to a bench on which Pidge was sitting, swinging her legs. He was trying to figure out how to tie her hair but so far nothing was working out.

“Uhhh, yeah, just don’t go too far and don’t take any dogs home this time.” When he saw Hunk nodding and running away, Keith turned back to his task. He grabbed a handful of hair and awkwardly started twisting the colorful hairband. After he was done, the tied strand of hair lolled out to the left side of Pidge’s head, resembling something between an antenna and a palm tree. Keith grimaced at it.

On the other hand, Pidge didn’t seem to mind at all, she just got down from the bench and started doing this strange thing that wasn’t exactly jumping but more like squatting down and getting up fast.

Voltron was lying next to the empty stroller, his leash tied to the bench.

‘ _Ok,_ ’ thought Keith ‘ _everything is under control, one kid is in my range of vision, playing with a pug, the other is doing…_ ’ he looked down at Pidge ‘ _something… but it doesn’t look dangerous so it’s alright’_ then his eyes moved to the side where Voltron was lazily gazing at the distance _‘and the dog is not trying to eat anyone. You are doing great, Keith._ ’

It was the second day after Hunk found Voltron. Yesterday, Lance had taken Voltron to the veterinary clinic. It turned out there was no chip and no record of missing dogs fitting his description. Hunk was ecstatic. Lance – not so much. He made sure to leave information around the neighborhood about a found dog, but he could already see that this dog was staying with them for a while. For forever as Hunk put it.

The veterinarian told Lance that Voltron was close to a year old, but not quite there yet. He was the normal size for his age and breed, and was completely healthy. The kids chose a leash and other accessories and their father ended up paying. He was grumpy all day after that.

This morning, when Keith went to have breakfast at Lance’s he was greeted by the young father and an excited dog. Lance looked like shit. He was pale, with clammy skin. His lips were red and chapped, and his eyelashes were tangled. Long story short, Lance was sick and Keith offered to take the children and the dog out so Lance could get some rest and hopefully feel better.

At first Lance was completely against this idea but Keith managed to convince him that he could keep the kids safe and in one piece. And that the dog wouldn’t be a problem. So they left a very worried and reluctant Lance at home.

And here Keith was, actually having everything under control.

“Kit, Kit, Kit!” Pidge was now sitting on his shoe, hugging his leg.

“Yes?”

“Play!”

“You want to play?”

“Yes!”

Keith looked around and spotted the sandpit from the other day. He picked up Pidge under her armpits and held her away from his body as he made it to the sandpit in under a minute. He then gently disposed the toddler inside and stood proudly to the side.

Pidge got to her knees and tugged at Keith’s jeans. Then she said something in what Keith has named ‘baby-talk’. She was explaining something, pointing towards the direction of her stroller.

Keith bit his lip and crouched at her level. “I have no idea what you are saying.”

“Kit! Kit give Pidge oies play. Oies, Kit.”

Keith shook his head. “You play now, Pidge. Keith has everything under control.” With that the man went back to the bench and drank some water. Pidge shrugged her little shoulders and started digging with her hands. Maybe Mr. Keith forgot the toys.

Hunk was now climbing a jungle gym, laughing with a bunch of other kids. Keith untied Voltron and let the dog run freely in the dog enclosure.

Around ten minutes later Keith’s phone rang. He sighed as he picked up.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I was! I had to pee and decided to check on you. Are you alive? How are Hunk and Pidge?”

“Lance, everything is fine, get some rest.” He put his phone away and restarted his watch on the two children.

At some point he noticed how Pidge was the only one without a hat in the sandpit. Keith started searching and found a small green hat. He put it on Pidge’s head but it wouldn’t stay in place properly because of her sticking ponytail. Keith decided to ignore that fact and instead went to fetch Hunk. ‘ _He has been running around in the heat for a while, I have to hydrate him._ ’

“Hunk, come here for a second”

“Why?”

“You are thirsty.”

“Oh, ok.”

A father close enough to hear everything looked at Keith as if he was insane, but Keith decided to ignore that too. It didn’t matter because he had everything under control.

 

* * *

 

 “Mr. Keith! Pidge has to pee!” Keith looked up from his phone at Hunk. The boy was holding his sister by the hand.

“Ok.”

He continued reading the news, not registering entirely what was said to him.

“Mr. Keith, she really has to go now.”

Keith suddenly realized that Pidge was too young to go alone.

“Um, yeah, sure. Come on.”

Pidge found herself in Keith’s hold again. He hurried to the toilets leaving Hunk playing with his friends. He was seconds away from entering the toilet when he stopped himself. Was he supposed to go in the male bathroom, or the female? Was there one for children specifically?

“Where do we go, Pidge?” he asked the child in his arms.

“To pee!”

“Yes, of course. Let me call back up.” He took out his phone and dialed Shiro.

“Hello?”

“Where am I supposed to go - the male toilet or the female one?”

“…What?” Shiro’s voice was laced with confusion.

“Pidge has to pee and I don’t know where to go!”

“Are you alone with her?”

“Yes, she will pee on me if I don’t hurry!”

“Go in the male one but make sure it’s empty.”

“Thanks, Shiro.”

Keith readjusted Pidge so he was holding her with one hand, in front of his chest with her back to him. With his free hand he covered her eyes and ran inside. He barely made it on time.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hunk! Don’t play with sticks! You are going to take your eyes out!” _‘I can’t return him to Lance with one eye or a stick stuck in his head._ ’

“But Mr. Keith, I’m playing fetch with Voltron!”

“Can’t you play with leafs instead? They aren’t dangerous.”

 

***

 

Keith was standing to the side of the sand pit again. He had just given Pidge her sippy cup and was now going to phone Shiro. However with the corner of his eye he saw the pregnant woman from the other day. She was looking at him, as if trying to read his mind. She didn’t look very pleased to see him again but she didn’t say anything. Keith still felt the need to protect his pride.

“I’m not a molester!” yelled Keith, successfully making every adult in close range look at him. ‘ _What’s wrong with these people?_ ’

 

**

 

“So you volunteered to take the kids out, huh? And they have a dog too?” asked Shiro, very interested in the matter.

“Yes.” was Keith’s short reply.

“And how is it going?”

“Perfect. Hunk is playing robots with other kids. Pidge is sliding this tiny plastic slide and she looks like she likes it. She’ll tell me if she doesn’t like something, right? No! She can’t speak properly! What if she doesn’t want to play there?!”

“Keith, calm down!” laughed Shiro. “If she doesn’t want to be there she will move away.”

“Yeah, you are right. Everything is fine. Is she supposed to go head first down? Pidge! You’ll break your neck like that!”

 

**

 

“Mr. Keith, why doesn’t Voltron need to wash his hands before he eats?”

Keith, who was feeding Pidge, looked up at Hunk and smiled.

“Because dogs don’t have hands, they have paws and they don’t use them to eat.”

Hunk nodded. Then he had another question.

“And why don’t they use their paws?”

“Because nature made them like that, they don’t need their paws to eat food.”

“But then why did nature made us with arms instead of more legs?”

Keith’s smile was replaced by perplexed expression. _‘What kind of question is this?’_

“Um… I don’t know.”

“If we had legs for hands we wouldn’t have to wash them before eating, right?”

“Why don’t you ask your dad, huh? He knows these things.”

 

* * *

 

Keith was quite pleased with himself. He handled the situation properly. Both kids were in perfect condition, the dog was fine too. He fed them, he gave them water and he helped them use the toilet if needed. Lance had called two more times to check in on his children, but both times he was told to go back to sleep.

Currently Hunk, Pidge and Keith were playing hide and seek. Keith found Pidge rather easy, she was behind a bench, giggling madly in her excitement. Now she was sitting on Keith’s shoulders, both of them looking for Hunk. It was more than ten minutes now and Keith was getting worried.

Where did the boy go? What if someone took him? ‘ _Oh god, Lance will hate me._ ’

He called Shiro while his eyes never stopped to frantically search for the child.

“Keith?”

“Shiro! I lost Hunk!”

“What? How?”

“We were playing hide and seek but I can’t find him! Shiro, do I call the police?”

“No! Keith, he is just hiding somewhere, call for him and he’ll come out.”

“Are you sure? Hunk! Come out!” Keith waited a few moments but nothing happened. “Shiro! He’s been kidnapped!”

“He thinks you are still playing, he isn’t kidnapped.”

“Hunk! We’re going home now, the game is over and you win!”

 The boy came down from a tree not too far from where Keith was standing. The man put his phone away and went to the boy.

“How did you get up there?” his tone was close to hysteric.

“Dad taught me. It’s the best hiding spot ever. When I get older I’ll upgrade to bigger trees.”

“Don’t upgrade to bigger trees.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Shiro, if Pidge wan-”

“Keith, stop calling me for things like that!”

“You didn’t even let me finish!”

“Go on.”

“If Pidge wants to climb the bigger slides, should I go with her?”

“Yes, go and get yourself stuck in one of these plastic tunnels. Just don’t call me after that.” with that Shiro hung up the phone. Keith widened his eyes and turned to Pidge.

“No, you can get stuck in there! Let’s play in the sand again.”

Everything was under control. Keith was doing amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> Some bonding time for Keith and the kids. Keith is very worried because what if he does something to Hunk or Pidge? Lance will hate him :D Poor panicked Keith, he is actually doing great, though, just a little overly worried :D
> 
> Have a great weekend! :)


	9. Sick

“Keith, wake up, you need to take these pills.”

Keith felt a hand on his head, stroking his hair. His hazy mind needed some time to process what was going on. His throat was hurting. A lot. His lips were very dry, chapped and the fact that he was breathing through his mouth wasn’t helping at all. His nose was useless at the moment, stuffed so badly. His muscles hurt. Or was it his joints. He wasn’t sure.

His whole body felt overly hot even on the inside. Like he was burning. But he felt cold at the same time.

He opened his eyes and saw Lance sitting next to him.

“Lance?” his voice sounded strange, croaked.

“Yeah. Here, take these, they should help with the sore throat.” Lance have him two tablets and handed him a glass of water. Keith propped himself up and swallowed the pills in one gulp.

Lance took back the glass. “Do you need anything?” he asked while standing to adjust the blanket that was on top of the other layers of covers on Keith.   

Keith shook his head and tried to blow his nose in hopes of regaining his ability to breathe normally.

Lance sat back down, leaning close to Keith, looking him straight in the eyes. Then the man closed the distance and placed a small kiss on Keith’s forehead. Lance pushed Keith back on the pillow and stood up.

“You have a fever. I’ll go find the thermometer.”

“Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Am I going to die?”

Lance stopped at the door of the room and laughed.

“You are so dramatic when you’re sick. I’m using this for blackmailing, just so you know.”

“Wait! Lance!”

“What?”

“Will you kiss me before I die? A real kiss. On the lips.”

Lance snorted loudly and went back to tuck the warm blanket around Keith.

“A real kiss on the lips, huh? Are you ten? I’ll give you the most real kiss ever, after you can breathe through your nose because I don’t want you passing out.”

With that Lance walked out of the room, leaving Keith by himself to muse why the ceiling was moving or why his head felt heavy.

 

* * *

 

 

A day after Keith helped Lance with the kids when the father was feeling down, Keith got sick. It wasn’t anything serious, but it was way worse than Lance’s cold. When Lance found out he immediately kidnapped Keith, forcing him in bed, covering him with a lot of blankets and pushing different kinds of medicine his way.

Keith, usually, didn’t get sick that often; the last time he got ill was six years ago. Every visit to a hospital or a medic in between then and now was related with physical trauma and not with running nose or coughing.

Lance was a great caregiver, Keith had to admit. He probably had a lot of experience whit his kids.

Keith was lying in Lance’s bed. His actual one, not the couch. It was a soft bed, with a lot of pillows and two plush toys in the middle. When he was left alone, Keith looked around the room. On the right side of the bed, next to a wall was Pidge’s crib. The front of it was covered with some of her clothes slung over the railing. Some toys were scattered on the ground, mixing up with what looked like Lance’s shirts and pants. A few socks here and there, some of them Pidge’s, others Lance’s. The room was a mess, but it looked quite cozy. Like a home.

 

* * *

 

 

“Lance, this syrup smells bad. I don’t want to drink it.”

“Well, too bad you don’t have a choice.” deadpanned Lance. “You are starting to cough and we have to kill the cough before it has settled.”

“But-”

“Man, Hunk and Pidge take their medicine with less complaining. It doesn’t taste bad, it tastes like strawberry.” explained Lance, showing a box to Keith so he could see. It looked like syrup prescribed to children.

Keith looked at the cartoonish strawberry and sighed. He took the offered spoon and drank the liquid. After swallowing the one gulp and made a face in displeasure.

“It’s not strawberry!”

“Well, you were being a baby so I had to proceed as I do with the kids. I use decoys!”

“I’m not taking that again!”

“Then stop coughing!”

 

***

 

“Keith, your fever is bad, this will help you!”

“No! I hate this smell.” shouted Keith, trying to move as far away from Lance as possible.

Lance sighed and dropped the washcloth in the bowl that was on the nightstand. Inside was a mixture of water and vinegar. A washcloth bathed in this mix, put on the forehead did miracles for high fever. But it did smell bad.

“Keith, it’s for your own good!”

“I’m an adult Lance, I can make my own decisions.”

They stared at each other for a while, both of them glaring. 

“Ok.” said Lance and moved to a drawer next to the door. He opened it and took out three other small towels. “We are doing wrists and ankles instead of forehead. It’s just as helpful and you won’t feel the smell as much.”

“Lance I-”

“You don’t have the right to comply or I’ll call your brother!”

Keith opened his mouth in shock. “And what!? I’m not a kid!”

“Yeah? You could have fooled me.” as he was speaking, Lance was already putting the wet cloths around Keith’s wrists.

Keith shuddered from the cold, but he instantly felt the relief on his burning body. Lance moved the blankets a little and took off Keith’s socks. After he was done with the ankles he stood up.

“I’ll go and make lunch, you try to rest.”

 

***

 

“Kit sick?” Pidge was looking down at the sleeping Keith from where she was sitting in Lance’s arms.

“Yes Pidge, so we have to be fast and quiet. Take the toys you want and let’s leave Keith to sleep.” Lance put the toddler down. She scooped a few small toys and gave them to her father for keeping. Then she went to her crib and reached between the bars and tried to grab something. Her short fingers barely managed but at the end she took out her favorite pacifier. Lance was about to remind her that the pacifiers were only for bedtime. However, she didn’t put it in her mouth. Instead, she went to the bed and threw the binky at Keith, succeeding at hitting the man on the hand, startling him awake.

“Pidge!” scolded Lance instantly, picking his daughter up.

“Lance?” asked confused Keith. He felt something by his hand and took it. “What?”

“I’m sorry Keith, she wanted some toys. We are going to leave you to sleep now, just-”

“Kit sick. Pidge give Kit paci.”

Lance smiled at Pidge and kissed her. “You gave him your paci so he could feel better? What a nice dinosaur I am raising!”

As Pidge giggled, her father explained to a confused Keith. “She is allowed her pacifiers only at bedtime, when she is feeling extra distressed or when she is sick. She is giving it to you so it can help you feel better.”

Keith nodded and grasped the binky. “Thank you, Pidge. I’m sure I’ll feel better in a record time now.”

Pidge grinned. “Kit paci. Kit paci!” She was putting her fingers in her mouth, sucking on them, as if demonstrating something.

Lance took her hand away from her face and cleaned it in the hem of his shirt. “Now, Pidge, Keith has to take his medicine and can’t use the paci right now. Why don’t you go and play with Hunk?”

When she was put down again, Pidge took the toys she had chosen and ran out of the room in search of her brother.

Lance moved closer to the bed and sat down on it. He took off the washcloths from Keith’s wrists and ankles, the material had long ago lost its coldness.

“How are you?”

“Better, actually.”

“Good, I’ll bring you some lunch soon.”

“Lance, thank you, really, I would have been fine by myself. What if I get you or the kids sick?”

Lance patted Keith’s leg. “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing serious. Pidge and Hunk meet so many kids outside, touch so many questionable objects, if they were to get sick it could happen any day.”

Lance opened the window so some fresh air could get in. “I know from experience what it’s like to be very sick and alone. The fourth month of living by myself with Hunk I got this really bad cold.” his voice was soft as he gazed outside. His eyes were locked on the street but it seemed like he wasn’t seeing anything.

“I could barely get up from the bed, my fever was so bad I was on the verge of hallucinating.” said Lance as he turned to look at Keith. “But I _had_ to get up, you know. There wasn’t an ‘I can’t’ option, I just had to. Even when the room was spinning in my head, when my whole body trembled from the fever, I _had_ _to_ because I was alone and there was nobody around to help me.”

The father took a deep breath. “Hunk would cry because he was hungry, or had a dirty diaper, or he just wanted a cuddle. I would close my eyes to try and keep my head from exploding and go to tend to my baby.”

Lance was now at the door with his back to Keith. “Always accept help when offered, Keith. Actually needing someone, but being alone is just… painful.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Chicken soup?” asked Keith as he took the offered bowl in his hands. It smelled great.

“Yes.” smiled Lance. “It’s so cliché I had to do it.”

“You made this?” The soup tasted amazing.

Lance waved his hand around in protest and refilled Keith’s glass with water.

“Nah, I ordered it. I didn’t have the ingredients here.”

Keith looked suspiciously at Lance. “You can’t make it, right?”

Lance averted his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you don’t know how to make chicken soup!”

“I totally can make chicken soup!” Lance voice became pitched.

“Mhm, and I totally believe you.”

“I’ll glue my biggest towel to your forehead after I bathe it in vinegar!”

“What? Why? Because you can’t cook soup?”

“Because you are annoying me! Eat your lunch and not a world more!”

“I’m not your kid!”

 

***

 

“Mr. Keith?” Keith looked up from his phone at Hunk who was standing at the doorway of the bedroom.

“Do you want to watch Galactic Robots? Dad said you can if you are feeling better.”

Keith put his phone away and stood up from the bed. He couldn’t wait to stretch a little. He was in fact feeling better and a few episodes of Galactic Robots sounded like a great idea for distraction.

Hunk and Keith exited the bedroom together. Lance was sitting on the couch, a laptop on his lap. Pidge was nowhere to be seen. The TV was on, the intro of the show just starting. Hunk ran and sat on a pillow on the ground that was surrounded by robot toys.

Voltron was also absent and Keith wondered where such a big dog could go and be unnoticed.

Lance looked up from his laptop and gestured to Keith to sit next to him.

“Where’s Pidge?” asked Keith as he sat down.

“She is napping in Hunk’s room.”

“And your dog?”

Lance snorted and resumed typing. “Dak took him for a walk.”

Keith nodded. He watched the show for a few minutes in silence. Lance never stopped typing and it made Keith curious.

“What are you writing?”

“I’m working.” replied Lance. “Translating.”

“You are a translator?” asked Keith, actually interested. He knew the other man had a job but he had no idea what it was until now.

“Yes, Spanish to English and the other way around. Also Italian.”

“You speak Spanish and Italian?” questioned Keith with clear disbelief.

“Yes, I do! Should I be offended? Spanish is my native language and I took Italian private classes as a teenager.”

“And working as a translator… is it enough?”

Lance looked at Hunk, then the TV and then back to Keith. “It is, after you make a name for yourself. I take some other jobs too from time to time, but this one I love the most, because I can work from home.”

“What other jobs?”

“Photoshoots.”

“So you’re a photographer?”

“No, no. I’m the, uh, model.”

Silence followed. Keith squinted his eyes at Lance.

“Are you kidding?”

“No! Now I do feel offended! Is it hard to believe I can be a model? Am I not hot enough?” Lance exclaimed loudly making Hunk shush his father for interrupting his cartoon.

“No, no. You are definitely hot enough. What did I just say? No, yes, ugh. Just, I have never seen you on TV?”

“Nah, mostly fashion brands for magazines. Swimsuits, sportswear, the occasional shoe commercial. Nothing big, really. It happens like, once every few months. What about you? Do you think about finding a job?”

“Maybe.”

“Mr. Keith, I’m disappointed in you. You came to watch Galactic Robots but you didn’t stop talking the whole episode!”

Keith looked with wide eyes at Hunk, surprised at the sudden accusation.

Lance shook his head mockingly. “Such a disgrace for this family, Keith. You should be ashamed.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny, Lance.” glared Keith. He watched the next episode with his full attention.

 

* * *

 

 

Dinner passed and Keith though about going to his apartment. However, Lance didn’t let him.

“You’re still under my care, you are staying the night.” was Lance’s declaration before he went to bathe Pidge. Keith wasn’t sure how it happened, but at some moment everyone, including Voltron, were in the bedroom. The dog was sleeping in front of the crib, his big body taking a lot of space. Hunk was under the covers with Keith, dressed in his pajamas, clutching a plush toy to his chest. Lance was sitting on the other side of Keith with Pidge in his arms.

A bedtime story was read but none of the children went to sleep.

“Come on Hunk. Let’s leave Keith to rest.”

“But daaaad.” whined Hunk. He really wanted to sleep with Mr. Keith in the same bed. It would be so cool to sleep next to a superhero.

“Hunk.” sighed Lance.

“Daddy sing. Pidge seep, Kit seep and Hunk seep, daddy sing.” said Pidge around her pacifier.

“Ah, Pidge, daddy can’t sing now.” Lance looked embarrassed.

“Please dad!” pleaded Hunk, agreeing with his sister. Lance looked at Keith for a second and shook his head.

 “No. Come on, to bed, now.”

“Lance” started Keith “Why don’t you sing them a song. Are you embarrassed by me?”

“What?! No!”

“I have heard you sing before.”

“When?!”

“That night, when we watched the first game, when Pidge screamed…”

Lance nodded, a blush appearing on his face.  He knew he had hummed in front of Keith, but the only people to hear him sing were Pidge and Hunk.

“Ok.” he murmured and sat himself so Pidge was lying across his chest with her head on his shoulder. He then reached across Keith, to adjust the cover around Hunk and to pat him on the head, making his son smile.

“Ok.” he repeated and leaned his head back against the headboard, eyes closed.

Lance started with a soft hum so he could get the melody right.

 

_Sometimes in our lives we all have pain_

_We all have sorrow_

_But if we are wise_

_We know that there’s always tomorrow_

 

Lance started patting Pidge’s back lightly, never opening his eyes. Pidge let her eyes drop closed. Hunk was also on his way to dreamland.

 

_Lean on me when you’re not strong_

_And I’ll be your friend_

_I'll help you carry on_

_For it won't be long_

_'Til I'm gonna need_

_Somebody to lean on_

 

Keith closed his eyes, letting Lance’s soft voice invade his mind. He had a feeling the song wasn’t just a random one. Their conversation earlier probably had something to do with it.

Perhaps he was getting feverish again. His mind felt heavy and not very clear. He let the warmth of Hunk and Lance on both of his sides anchor him, so he could enjoy the song just a little bit more.

 

_If there is a load you have to bear_

_That you can't carry_

_I'm right up the road_

_I'll share your load_

 

When he finally succumbed to sleep, he felt warm not only on the outside. And he was sure his fever had nothing to do with it. As the final rational thoughts left his head to make way to dreams, he felt someone stroke his hair lightly. He slept peacefully through the whole night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> The song in the end is Lean On Me by Bill Withers . 
> 
> The vinegar and water forehead compress is something very popular in my country, it helps to take the heat from the fever away faster. But it really isn't very nice to smell. Honestly, this chapter wasn't planned to be about sick Keith, or sick anyone, but I got sick, so I decided to include this in my plans :D I hope you don't mind :D Also dramatic Keith when he's sick.
> 
> Have a nice week :)


	10. Rain

“Daaaaaad”

“Yes?” Lance looked up from his laptop. Hunk was standing in front of him, wearing a pirate hat and holding a toy sword. Voltron was standing next to him, a yellow bandana tied loosely around his neck.

“Can I have a pet?”

Lance stared at his son in amusement. “You already have one. Can’t you see the horse next to you? You were playing with him a second ago.”

Hunk shook his head and sat down next to his father. “But dad, I want another pet.”

“Sorry Hunk. You have a dog that equals three other pets.” replied Lance as he scratched Voltron’s head when the dog moved to put his muzzle in Lance’s lap, over his computer. “You also have a little sister. A big dog and a sister! I think this is a far better deal than what most boys have.”

Hunk hummed in though and nodded. He moved his gaze across the room where Pidge was playing on the floor with cars. The boy stood up suddenly and went to his room, muttering under his nose. The only thing his father caught was “…a sister… no pet… no sister…”

Lance sighed and moved away Voltron’s head so he could continue working. The dog whined unhappily and jumped on the couch. He lied down, head being the opposite side of Lance, big body taking up all of the free space, back legs stretching and hitting Lance.

The man tinned his lips, his right hand patting Voltron’s behind. “Yes, thank you for the company. I appreciate your ass being so close to me. Now move your ass away. The couch is a forbidden zone for you.” The patting turned in pushing, but the animal didn’t seem bothered at all. Lance started using both hands but still no result.

Voltron moved one back leg as a response, kicking Lance in the knee. The man stopped his attempts and glared at the dog. “Next time I’m letting Hunk buy you a dress. You deserve it. Pink and frilly.”

Voltron only settled his head down and closed his eyes. Lance huffed in annoyance and returned to his work. The sooner he was done, the sooner he could see Keith. Also The Path of Love was starting in a few hours. His work motivation went off the charts in moments.

 

* * *

 

“Mr. Keith?”

Keith acknowledged Hunk but didn’t move his attention from getting the boxes with food out of the plastic bag. Lunch was his way of repaying Lance for taking care of him while he was sick yesterday.

“You live alone, right?” Hunk was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, swinging his legs, looking curiously at Keith.

“Yes.”

“And you like Pidge?”

Keith looked at the boy and nodded slowly, not sure what this was going.

Hunk grinned, jumped off the chair and ran out of the kitchen.

 

****

 

_“You don’t understand! I love you!”_

_“No! You only love my money!”_

_“You are my life, Norma!”_

_“Don’t lie to me! I want a divorce!”_

_“What about the child we are waiting?”_

 

“Lance?” Keith exited the kitchen in search of the young father. He found him pretty fast, sitting on the couch, watching the TV with all of his attention. Pidge was standing in front of him, drawing something on his left arm but it seemed like he didn’t care. The girl was concentrated on her art work just as much as her father was concentrated on the TV screen.

“Lance?!” tried again Keith. However no response came, not even a sign that the man had heard him.

 

_“Norma, your mother killed my sister!”_

 

Lance widened his eyes in shock and put his hands on his head, clutching at his hair. “No way, he told her!”

Pidge made a distressed noise when her father removed his hand from her grip and her crayons. “Daddy! Pidge paints now!”

Lance unconsciously stretched out his left hand again, not saying anything to his daughter, eyes never leaving the screen. Pidge smiled and grabbed a blue crayon, continuing the scrabble on her father’s skin.

“Lance!” this time Keith shook Lance’s shoulder effectively being noticed that way.

“Oh! Keith.”

“Are you watching soap operas?” asked Keith with a lot of disbelief clear in his voice.

“The Path of Love is amazing! This is the first episode of the second season.” Lance answered and faced the TV again. The woman and the man on the screen were clearly in a fight, yelling angrily at each other.

“Lunch is ready to eat. It only has to be warmed.” Keith’s statement was met with silence from Lance.

Keith sighed. When Lance had opened the door for Keith earlier he hurried away fast, leaving Keith to deal with the food alone. At first Keith thought that one of the kids probably needed something, but it turned out Lance was hypnotized by a telenovela.

“Ten more minutes. Fifteen maybe. No one has claimed to be hungry yet, so we are ok.” 

 Keith pursed his lips for a moment at Lance’s reply.

“Pidge is tattooing you.” Keith said casually. Perhaps that would get his attention away from the TV drama.

At first Lance only nodded. Then, when his brain finally registered what was said to him, he looked down at his hand and a proudly grinning Pidge.

The colorful scribbles went almost up to his elbow, unconnected blue, green and purple lines that had no particular shape. The man blinked once, twice and then averted his gaze towards a white sheet of paper on the couch next to him, most likely Pidge’s initial drawing place.

He breathed deeply and turned back to the TV, face completely blank. “I’ll criticize your art display later. And please tune down the purple.”

 

* * *

 

“Go to the park? But it looks like it’ll start raining any moment.”

Lunch had passed fast and uneventfully. Hunk liked the offered food and asked Keith if he was the one to cook it. After receiving a negative answer the boy got in a long monologue about Pidge’s favorite dishes and how her portions are supposed to be cut. When Keith turned to Lance for explanation the dad just shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. He likes talking about food.”

Since the first day Keith met the small family, he knew that Lance is extraordinary, that he does things in a way that was uniquely his. That’s why, when Lance declared they’re going to the park after lunch, Keith shouldn’t have been as surprised. The whole day has been dark and cloudy, and the humidity in the air was a tale-tell indication for incoming rain.

However, when inquired about it, Lance smiled. “Yes, that’s the point, Keith!”

Keith stood with a confused expression for a while, not getting how taking your kids out in the rain was a point of any sort. He was fast taken out of his thoughts when Lance stopped in front of him.

“Do you want to come with us?”

_‘Come in the rain? I just got over a cold… But look at his happy face…’_ “Umm… Yeah, sure.”

Lance’s grin got even bigger at Keith’s answer. He patted Keith on the back, making the man stumble a few steps in surprise. “Perfect, you have rubber boots, right?”

When Keith confirmed the existence of such shoes in his apartment, he was sent to retrieve them. He was instructed to also bring a raincoat. Keith was silently thanking Allura for packing even the items he had deemed unnecessary.

Twenty minutes later he was waiting in the hallway of the apartment building. Lance and his children came not even a minute after him. When he saw them, Keith couldn’t help but let himself smile. They looked adorable, even Lance.

Hunk was wearing a yellow raincoat with a hood that had a duck face on it. His boots were a lighter shade of the same color. The uncovered space by his coat was all naked skin, he was probably wearing shorts underneath. The hot summer weather allowed it.

Pidge was dressed in a frog themed raincoat. Her green boots, with small lizard eyes in the front, matched it perfectly. She was holding tightly on her father’s hand, not used to walking in the high and hard rubber boots. But this little obstacle didn’t make her less excited about going out to play.

Lance, once again matching his children in colorfulness, was sporting a bright blue coat. It was the same model as Keith’s one.

Though, there was a significant difference beside the colors red and blue. Lance’s coat was decorated with all kinds of doodles, obviously drawn by Hunk and some perhaps by Pidge. It was a mixture of all kinds of colors and shapes and somehow it looked very Lance-like. It almost made Keith feel plain.

Voltron was coming with them too, a leash secured in Lance’s other hand.

“Kit, Kit, Kit, Kit!” shouted Pidge when she saw the man and ran to him, hugging his legs. She almost fell down on the way, tripping over the foreign for her shoes. Keith awkwardly hovered his arms over her back, landing a few light pats on it.

“Kit! Pidge fwog. Pidge hop! Hop! Hop!” the toddler started jumping around Keith who became still as a statue, afraid that if he moves he may push her.

The jumping was cut short by Lance, who picked up his daughter and put her on his hip. Hunk moved to stand next to Keith, tugging on his arm, making the man look down at him. “Pidge really likes you. And you like her too.” declared the boy, smiling from ear to ear, looking pleased. Lance laughed at Keith’s baffled expression and urged his son towards the elevator.

“No wheels today?” Keith asked Lance, following after him.

“No” Lance replied. “We won’t stay that long, no need for a stroller.”

 

*****

 

They managed to get some dry playing time. When the rain hit, the park became empty in less than five minutes. Parents collected their children in a hurry, trying to escape the weather. Only some joggers remained. And Lance with company.

Voltron was happily running around chasing water drops in the air.

The rain was coming down gently, steady and as a welcome refreshing change from the hot sun. Keith still wasn’t sure why he was standing outdoors in the rain, or why Lance actually looked forward to a gloomy weather.

And then all at once everything became clear. Lance had Hunk in his hold, swinging the boy around, making him shriek with glee.  Lance then dropped Hunk mid-spin in a nearby puddle, still not very big, but just enough to splash the boy and his sister who was jumping on one foot on the edge of the puddle. The boy landed unsteady on his feet and started kicking the water.

Lance grabbed Pidge, holding her over his head and started running in circles on the wet ground. The toddler was laughing loudly, waving her arms, pretending to fly or maybe swim.

Keith stood unmoving and observed everything. To his ears the joyous sounds from Lance, Hunk and Pidge muted the rain. The three of them radiated something strong. Happiness, love, _freedom_. Running, jumping, playing and even singing in the rain, under the naked sky, for the whole planet to see.

Laughing together, sharing their bliss with each other. ‘ _What is it like to be this happy by something as trivial and ordinary as rain?’_ Rain – most people disliked it, the mud, the puddles and the humidity. It’s called bad weather.

But at this moment all Keith could see was some kind of strange harmony between exploding emotions and falling water from the sky. While every other parent hid their children, Lance let his be free. He let them feel the nature.

It wasn’t the first time Keith stood to the side, mesmerized by the unique way Lance was simply being himself.

Keith was startled when his hood suddenly found itself over his head. He adjusted it so it wasn’t covering his eyes and glared at Lance.

“We’re not here to get sick.” was Lance’s explanation. Lance locked eyes with Keith and bit his lip.

After e brief moment of hesitance, Lance closed the short distance between their faces and before Keith could react, their lips met.

The kiss was softer than Keith expected, almost sweet in nature, light and fast. The remaining rain drops on Keith’s face gave the kiss some kind of chilly undertone, in complete contrast with Lance’s warm skin.

There, surrounded by the sound of water hitting the earth and joyous laughter and with Lance’s lips moving against his own, Keith found out how it was possible to feel utter happiness by just standing under the rain. It was a liberating feeling, as if suddenly he didn’t have any problems. It was just him, the rain and Lance.  

“See, I keep my word.” Lance told Keith after moving away. Keith imagined that his expression matched Lance’s smile and bright eyes.

“Daaad.” Hunk yelled, running towards the pair. “What are you doing?”

“I’m checking to see if Keith’s super hotness is affected by the rain.” replied Lance. Keith rolled his eyes at the ridiculous answer but he didn’t say anything.

All of a sudden Voltron came out of nowhere. He was soaking wet and very happy. In his excitement he jumped at Keith, the closest person, and pushed him on the ground, licking his face.

Lance laughed and tried to remove the dog. A few pats on his back and he was running away again, chasing nothing in particular.

Keith stayed spread on the grass, his raincoat protecting him from the wetness. Hunk squatted next to him, grinding a stick in the mud.

“Ah, Pidge, what have you got here?” Lance asked as he called the toddler, making her run clumsily to him, outstretching her hand towards her father.

Inside her small palm was a worm, long, hanging out from the sides.

“Daddy pet!” declared Pidge, grinning widely, looking very proud of her finding.

Lance made a face, not a big fan of insects, though he hid his disgust, not wanting to cut short the kid’s enthusiasm.

“A worm! Such a big catch.”

“Womr.” repeated Pidge, lifting the creature to her eye level. She looked so fascinated by it, turning it in different directions so she could see all the sides. “Womr.” Whispered the girl and if it wasn’t so adorable, Lance would have corrected her pronunciation.

During her careful study of the worm, the thing slipped from her grasp, almost falling on top of Keith’s face.

The man in question quickly rolled away, far from the worm. Pidge crouched, but lost her balance and decided to just sit next to Keith, again taking her new friend. While sitting she noticed something and looked at her dad, ready to share the newfound information.

“Daddy, gwass wet now.”

Lance chuckled and sat on her other side. “It is, right? Do you think the rain made the grass wet?”

Pidge dropped her free hand on the grass, making water squish. It was such an ordinary thing, but at the same time something new to Pidge. She was just starting to consciously discover the world around her, her curiosity being constantly stimulated by Lance. To find out the way everything worked by yourself was the best and the funniest way to learn.

“The rain, yeah!” agreed the toddler and pushed herself to a standing position, running away, Lance following close behind. Keith was left to lie in the grass, keeping Hunk company.

“Mr. Keith, what did the rain tell you?”

“What?”

“The rain.” Hunk said again, this time slowly, imitating the voice his father used to explain difficult words. “Dad says that when it rains, the Earth is telling us something. Like secrets falling from the sky. You have to listen and you may learn something!”

Keith let that sink in for a moment. It was actually a very interesting thing to teach your children. Secrets falling from the sky. Huh, well, at least it wasn’t another way to throw food at people in restaurants.

“Hmmm…” Keith started, moving his head to look at Lance who was showing Pidge how to properly jump in big puddles. “What did the sky tell you today, Hunk?”

The boy stopped digging his stick in the ground and hummed in concentration. “That the air smells different when it rains. Maybe it’s like a shower. Now everything is clean and it smells different. It’s a good smell, though.” After a short pause he continued “Oh and wet sticks feel strange.” concluded Hunk, gripping his wooden tool in his fist again.   

“Yes” Keith nodded in agreement. “And the rain told me that I can be free.” _‘Free from the troubles in my mind.’_

 

**Extra:**

An hour later, the four of them and a very wet dog, were standing on their floor. All of them were muddy and with wet coats and boots, but Lance’s only concern was Voltron.

“Ok, I’m entering with the beast, I’ll try to get him directly in the bathroom. Hunk, Pidge, come on, Keith, you know the drill, I’ll be waiting.” and with that Lance disappeared inside his apartment, leading Voltron fast, trying not to get mud everywhere. He left the door open so his children could enter.

Instead of following his dad, Hunk took Pidge’s hand and tugged her towards Keith who was in the process of unlocking his door. The boy led his sister and pushed her gently in between Keith’s body and his apartment door.

Keith stepped back and looked down at the kids.

Hunk hugged Pidge and said something in her ear that Keith didn’t hear. Afterwards the boy faced Keith “Mr. Keith, as a superhero I know you will take care of Pidge. She is very good baby. Please let me see her sometimes.”

The boy was gone in seconds, running inside his home, closing and locking the door.

Pidge stood just as confused as Keith. The little girl looked up at Keith and pointed her door. “Kit? Daddy! Kit Pidge want daddy!”

Keith was still trying to process what happened. All of a sudden the strange questions and statements Hunk made through the day came back to Keith’s mind. _‘Was he planning to give me Pidge? Why?’_

 

*****

 

“Hunk! Take your boots off before you enter! Can you help Pidge with hers, please?” Lance instructed, drying off Voltron in the bathroom.

“Dad?” Lance was surprised by how fast Hunk was done with undressing himself and Pidge.

“Yes?”

“Now I can get a second pet, because I don’t have a sister anymore.” the boy sounded close to tears.

Lance stopped what he was doing and stared blankly at the tiles for a moment. Then his brain caught up and the father turned to face his son.

“What do you mean you don’t have a sister anymore? She was here!” Maybe this was some kind of a game.

“I gave her to Mr. Keith. He’ll feed her and give her hugs, and she’ll be close to us! Now we have place for another animal, dad!” by the end Hunk was yelling, coming even closer to crying.

Lance stood up, eyes wide, mouth open in disbelief. “Did you just give away your little sister?! Feed her? Hunk! She’s not an animal!”

“But you said I can’t get another pet, because I have sister!” Hunk whined.

“What! No! Hunk, I said that a baby and a giant dog is enough! I can’t believe you just gave away your sister!” Lance was letting amusement win over astonishment and surprise. Pidge was with Keith, so he wasn’t worried about her. Though, Keith probably was close to panic.

“I don’t want to daaaaad! I want Pidge back! Daaaad! I miss heeeer! I don’t want another pet! Give me Pidge!” Hunk was crying now, throwing himself in Lance’s embrace. Lance hoisted the child on his hip, running a hand comfortingly on his back.

“I’m sure Keith will return Pidge to us, don’t worry Hunk.”

“Daaaaad, I am a bad older brother!” Hunk sobbed, burring his face in Lance’s shoulder.

Lance smiled gently and unlocked the door, stepping outside in the hallway.

Keith was standing with Pidge in his arms. The girl was making quiet mewing noises, not quite crying, but coming close. She was clutching Keith’s muddy raincoat in one hand, the other was almost completely in her mouth.

Keith’s eyes were wide with panic, calming only when he spotted Lance.

“I don’t know what happened! Hunk left her here and ran away! Lance, I swear I didn’t kidnap her!”

Lance almost laughed at how ridiculous the situation was.

“I know Keith, don’t worry. Why would you kidnap her anyway? Don’t get so worked up, dude!” Lance chuckled and took his daughter. Hunk immediately wrapped his arms around his sister, apologizing, even giving her kisses.

Lance took her hand away from her mouth and then addressed Keith. “Seriously, calm down, go take a warm shower and come for dinner. Now, I’m going to wash a slimy frog and a wet duck. And, apparently, we need to have a discussion about giving family members as gifts, or exchanging them for animals.” when he said the last part, he bounced Hunk a little.

“I’m sorry Mr. Keith. Now I don’t want to give you Pidge. I really love her, maybe more than a pet.”

Lance snorted and headed back inside. “Yeah, perhaps she is more lovable than a pet. I mean look at this cute face” Lance commented, landing a sloppy kiss on Pidge’s forehead.

As Pidge’s giggles and Hunk’s apologizes died behind the closed door, Keith still stood in the hallway, muddy, dripping water and confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> Finally a real kiss on the lips :D Keith's wish came true, at last. 
> 
> Have a great end of the week and an amazing weekend! :)


	11. Doctor

“If you want to marry my daughter, you must defeat the dragon that lives in the heart of the forest. Once you bring me his tail as a proof of your victory, I’ll give my daughter’s hand in marriage to you.” Lance stood up from the chair he was using as a throne to get in his ‘king’ character. He let the blanked he was using as a ‘royal’ mantle fall to the floor. Then the man grabbed a toy sword left behind at the end of some game. He put its peak on the ground and kneeled behind it, head bowed.

“Your Highness, I won’t bring you a dragon’s tail for such a thing is not worthy of the beauty of Princess Lua. You shall have the beast’s head!” Lance was speaking with deep voice, differing from the croaky tone he used for the king.

Keith was watching with hidden amusement how Lance was telling a fairytale to his children. It was more like impromptu theatre than a regular story time. It seemed like it came naturally to Lance – getting in character, making different voices for each person, even using various objects lying around as a décor, as a way to empower as much as possible the spirit of some characters.

Hunk and Pidge loved it. They were both sitting on the couch, watching carefully and with full attention. They clapped, oooh-ed and aaah-ed at certain times.

“Princess Lua, my love.” Now Lance was kneeling in front of Keith, holding one of Keith’s hand, giving it a kiss. “I will show you how strong my love is! With the power of our love, I shall kill the monster and free our lands of its deadly hold.”

 _‘Why am I the princess?! Wasn’t I supposed to be the dragon?’_ Keith though.

Lance straightened his back a little and put his right hand over his heart, tipping his head slightly so he was looking Keith in the eyes. “I promise you gifts from worlds unknown. Your wedding dress shall be made from fabric worthy of the gods! Will my beloved be waiting for my return?” His smile turned into a flirtatious smirk.  For some reason this irked Keith, because _‘Why am I the princess?!’_

Keith’s lack of any kind of answer seemed to disturb the audience.

“What did the princess say?” Hunk asked, anticipating the development of the story. Pidge was looking wide eyed at Keith, standing on the couch, using its back to support herself. She had a thumb in her mouth but she took it out, only to say something incomprehensible at Keith.

“No.” Keith told Lance.

Lance gasped in mock hurt and stood up.

“Not to worry! I will win your love! A Lion Warrior never gives up. And a Lion Warrior never sucks on their fingers!” Lance said the last part while pointing his sword at Pidge. The toddler immediately took her thumb out of her mouth and hid her hand behind her back, giggling in the process.

“Now my adventure awaits! Farewell my beloved princess!”

Keith sighed at Lance’s antics. Everything had started with a gaming challenge. After Keith’s morning run, which was not as enjoyable because of all the mud from yesterday’s rain, Lance had called. The man had received a new game, something about racing space ships. A challenge was set, along with a bet and the two men found themselves in front of Lance’s TV, controllers in hand.

After half an hour gameplay, suddenly the screen turned black. That was immediately followed by Hunk’s scream from the now completely dark bathroom. The electricity had stopped. Lance ran to sooth Hunk while Keith was left to _not_ sulk. He was just starting to take leading position. _‘I could have won!’_

At some point Pidge barged in the room, bouncing up to Keith, hugging him and babbling something that only she could understand. Lance returned with teary Hunk in tow and announced the start of story time. Keith was given the role of the dragon and apparently the princess too.

And here Keith was, sitting on the carpeted ground, looking at Lance pretending to ride Voltron in the dark forest where the enemy lived. Keith let his thoughts wander away from the stage play happening in front of him. Yesterday’s kiss came to mind and he let half a smile take his face. Last night he had trouble falling asleep because he couldn’t stop thinking about what that meant.

Recently, Keith often noticed how much he enjoyed spending time with Lance and the kids. Not that he didn’t like it in the beginning too, but now it wasn’t just getting to know a hot stranger. It was something more. _‘Do I want something more? Yes.’_  It wasn’t only about admiring Lance’s hot body anymore. Even though, Keith would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy ogling Lance. It made his jeans and dreams uncomfortable in a very pleasant way.

Now it was also about having lunch together, taking the kids out, watching football or even just sitting next to each other while doing completely unrelated things. It brought some kind of comfort and Keith really liked it. He wasn’t sure exactly how to proceed from here. How to show Lance that he wanted more? He was pretty confident that Lance was also just as seriously interested.

Keith couldn’t overlook the existence of Hunk and Pidge. What if they don’t like him? What if he can’t deal with them after a while? For now they didn’t have any problems. He had interacted with both of them on many different occasions and everything had been perfect. Or at least not disastrous.

He was so lost in thought that he lost the turn in the fairy tale. All of a sudden he heard a whooshing noise next to his right ear. The noise was followed by a loud yell. It wasn’t the first time Lance surprised him in similar way. But this time, for some reason, Keith acted upon instinct that was built in his military training. He blindly swatted away the offending plastic object. A different kind of yell was heard, then a bang and a thud. A second later Keith realized where he was and who was yelling.

Lance had fallen on the ground from the coffee table on which he was perched upon a second ago. He was face first on the carpet, not moving. When he propped himself up, he clutched his nose wide eyed with shock, toy sword still held in one hand.

“Lance! Are you ok!? I’m so sorry!” Keith apologized kneeling next to the young father, trying to inspect his bloody nose. “Did you hit your head hard?”

“It’s ok. I’m ok. Just a little bit of blood. It was an accident, I lost my balance.” Lance waved him off. His face was scrunched up in pain.

“You are bleeding! It might be broken. We need to go to the hospital. I am so sorry, Lance! You just surprised me! I am so sorry!”

Lance laughed a little to ease Keith’s panic, but that turned out to be painful.

“Did the dragon kill the Lion Warrior?” Hunk asked with quiet voice, confused. Was this part of the story? Pidge, on the other hand, started making her mewing pre-crying sounds. Her eyes were already teary as she got down from the couch and went to hug her dad.

“Yes, this time the dragon won, only because the God of Balance helped him. But don’t worry. The warrior is fine. He is ready to go and win the love of his princess!” Lance was really trying to be reassuring, mentioning Hunk to come and join them, rubbing Pidge’s back in comfort, but he wasn’t very successful with his face and clothes becoming bloody very fast, swelling bluish nose and nasal tone.

“You are not fine! You just broke your nose! We have to go to a hospital!” Keith insisted, already pulling Lance up. Then he went in the kitchen to retrieve some ice.

“It was a little accident. I shouldn’t have jumped on you like that! And I shouldn’t have been on the edge of that table in the first place! That’s a nice lesson kids…”

“Daddy owie?” Pidge asked, tears running down her face. Lance had her on his hip awkwardly, as far away from the blood as possible.

“Will he die?” Hunk’s tone suddenly became even more panicked than Keith’s.

“No! Just… my nose hurts a little bit. Daddy will go to the doctors and all will be fine. Hunk go put on your shoes and jacket.” Lance instructed while handing Pidge to Keith. The black-haired man traded the toddler for a wet towel and a pack of ice that Lance put to his face. He scrubbed at the blood dripping down his chin with the towel.

“You need shoes, right?” Keith didn’t get an answer from Pidge. She just continued crying, burring her head in his shoulder, her face turned towards her father. Hunk returned, dressed to go, running to his father and hugging him around the middle.

“You did a great job Hunk. Thank you for being so fast. Can you go and grab Pidge’s green jacket? The one with the lizards.”

Hunk nodded at his father’s request and ran off. Lance went to the entrance door and slipped on the first thing his toes touched which was a pair of flip flops. He had to maneuver his socks off of his feet but in the end he managed without help. Or just not a big amount of help. Keith was standing next to him, holding on his arm, keeping him from falling.

“Mmm take my car keys from the hook next to the light switch.”

Keith grabbed said keys and moved Pidge to his other hip so he could put on his shoes easily.

Hunk was back again, offering a small jacked to Keith. The man took it and thanked Hunk. The boy had tear marks on his face just like his sister. The kids were probably scared. _‘Their father toppled over on his head in front of them and his blood is leaking out from his nose. And it’s partially my fault.’_

Lance put a hand on top of his son’s head.

“Hunk, don’t worry about dad. I’m ok, just a little bit of blood. Keith will take me to the doctor and I will be better than new!”

“Stop talking and keep your head down so the blood doesn’t go down your throat.” Keith scolded Lance and pushed him gently out of the apartment. In the last moment Keith grabbed a pair of orange sandals for Pidge and locked the door.

 

* * *

 

 

 

When they arrived at the hospital, Lance’s bleeding has slowed down. He was still feeling pain and the world was spinning in his vision, but not as much as before.

Keith had a hand hooked in Lance’s elbow. Pidge was in his other arm, nervously sucking on her thumb. Hunk was holding on his father’s shirt.

They reached the reception and the woman behind the desk looked at them unfazed by the bloody face and distraught children. She clicked her tongue and leaned forward in her chair.

“Cause of the injury?” the woman asked as she pushed some papers towards Lance.

“An accident at home.” Lance told her and started filling in the documents.

The receptionist squinted her eyes and looked at Keith, almost glaring.

“Look, you are not the first to come here for that reason and a bloody nose. ‘Accident at home’. Do you know how often it really turns out to be that? If you need help you can tell me.”

“Um, yeah, I need help. I need someone to look at my nose so I could go home with my kids and my boyfriend.” Lance said, not lifting his head from the papers.

“He also hit his head.” Keith added. Then he realized what Lance said. “Wait, what? Boyfriend?”

“Did _he_ hit his head?” the woman asked as she stared Keith down.

“Yes.” answered Keith slowly, for now forgetting the whole ‘my boyfriend’ thing.

“Honey,” started the woman, putting her hand over Lance’s, halting his writing. “You can tell me the truth. The police can be here in less than ten minutes. Our security guards will keep you safe until then. You and your sweet kids will be ok.”

Lance looked at her as if she had two heads. Then he turned to Keith who seemed just as confused.

“Um, what?”

“You shouldn’t be afraid to seek help. Domestic violence is not something to be ashamed of.”

“Domestic violence?” Keith repeated.

The woman huffed in irritation. “You can’t fool me with your act of innocence! What, you came here to make sure that he is not calling the cops on you? And you have the kids with you, do you hit them too? Is that why they are crying?”

Keith’s face showed clear disbelief. “I didn’t hit him! Or the children!”

Lance, now done with the papers defended Keith. “It was an accident! I fell off a table at home while playing with my kids.”

“Yes.” Keith said confidentially. “I’m not an abuser.”

The receptionist was very skeptical. “I know who to ask.” She stood up so she could see Hunk better and addressed him. “Tell me, honey, does this man” pointing at Keith “hit your dad? Or you?”

Hunk shook his head, moving to stand between Keith and Lance.

“Nooo. Mr. Keith is a superhero! He often comes to play with us. He even checked for monsters in my room once. He is so strong he lifted dad on a piggy ride in the sea!” the boy made it very clear that Keith was not a feared figure. “Dad hit him though.”

“What?!” Lance stared surprised at his son.

“He kicked him in the head.” Hunk continued in his childish tone. The woman widened her eyes and stared at the two males, hand moving to pick up the phone, ready to call the guards.

“No!” Lance and Keith yelled at the same time.

“It was with a ball.” Hunk finished just as his father covered his mouth.

Lance smiled as much as he could. The lower half of his face was bloody and the smile looked very strange and unreal.

“Hahaha, Hunk. It was an accident at the park.” the father explained.

“It wasn’t an accident.” countered Keith, more out of habit than anything.

“Yes, it was. Keith!”

“Dad’s brain won’t fall out of his nose, right?” Hunk asked out of the blue. His question made the woman sigh heavily and check the documentation quickly before sending Lance off to a room down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance’s nose wasn’t broken and he didn’t have a concussion. Currently, Lance, Keith and the kids were waiting for the doctor to return in the room.

Lance was sitting on the examination table. Hunk was on a small chair in one of the corners, a lollipop in his mouth, given by the nurse that did the initial examination. Pidge had one too. She was sitting next to Lance, cuddling his arm. Keith was pacing back and forth, nervously.

“See, I told you I was fine.”

“Lance…”

“I know, I know. I would have done the same thing.”

Keith didn’t say anything back but stopped in one place and leaned against the wall.

“Will you kiss my owie? To make it all better?” Lance asked, smirking at Keith.

Keith stepped forward and bended a little so he could reach Lance’s face. Then he kissed the bruise on his nose purposely using more power than necessary.

“Oooow! That didn’t make it better at all!” complained Lance, pouting at the black-haired man.

“Pidge kiss owie.” Pidge exclaimed and stood up on the table, her dad instantly moving to catch her if she were to stumble off it. One bloody fall was enough for the day. The toddler landed a messy kiss on her father’s nose. It was surprisingly gentle and light and it made Lance smile.

“Owie away, owie away.”

“Thank you Pidge! I feel better already.”

Hunk climbed on the table and kissed his dad too. However, before he jumped down he knocked on Lance’s head, putting his ear against it as if listening for something.

“What are you doing, Hunk?” inquired curiously Lance.

“Checking if your brain is still here.” Hunk replied nonchalantly.

Keith snorted loudly, making Lance glare at him.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, Keith?”

“What?”

“I told them you were my boyfriend.”

“I heard. I was there Lance.”

“Are you?”

“Am I?”

“Are you my boyfriend?”

“Well” Keith thought out loud. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to be?”

“…Maybe. Yes. Yes.”

Lance only nodded. A few moments passed before Lance spoke again.

“Hey, Keith.”

“What?”

“Can I take your temperature? You are looking hot today.”

“Oh, wow, Lance. Really? Did you just come up with that one?”

“Can I be your ophthalmologist ‘cause I can’t stop looking into your eyes.”

“Lance.”

“Do you want to go study some anatomy?”

“Stop.”

“Blood is red, cyanosis is blue, I get tachycardia when I think of you.”

“You don’t even know what cyanosis means, right?”

“Are you my appendix? Because I don't understand what you do, but this feeling in my stomach makes me want to take you out.”

“Oh my god, Lance!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> I was amazed by the amount of medical related pick up lines. :D   
> Also, we have a boyfriend situation. 
> 
> Have a great week! :)


	12. Congratulations

Keith was awaken by an annoying noise. He scrunched up his nose and buried his head deeper in the warmth that was near him. The noise didn’t stop and Keith groaned, opening his eyes. His face was hidden in Lance’s hair. The two of them were tangled on Lance’s bed which was a great improvement from the couch that had made his back ache.

The sound was starting to imprint itself in his brain, so Keith rolled over from under the hand of the other man. Lance shifted at the loss of body heat but remained sleeping. Keith stretched his hand towards the nightstand where his phone was vibrating. He wondered how Lance could sleep through this noise. Keith looked over his shoulder at the crib on the other side of the bed. He couldn’t see if Pidge was awake because an onesie was thrown over the railing but she seemed pretty undisturbed.

Keith sighed when his fingers finally snatched the phone and he swiped at the screen without checking who it was. He put it to his ear and mumbled a “Hello?” in a sleep filled groggy voice.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?” Keith groaned to his brother, shivering when Lance pulled the blanked to himself, leaving Keith in the chill air in only his underwear.

“Where are you?” Shiro asked.

“Sleeping.”

“Where?”

“Why?”

“Keith!” Shiro sounded irritated. But Keith was so sleepy. He grabbed the blanked and tugged at it, hoping to cover himself at least a little.

“Keith! We are in front of your apartment and if you could open the door-”

“Ok.” Keith answered, not actually hearing what Shiro had just said. He then ended the call and dropped the phone on the mattress. The mission of retrieving the blanked was unsuccessful, Lance was gripping it strongly and Keith just wanted some sleep. So he curled around Lance, taking in his heat.

He dozed off pretty fast. However, after what felt like only five minutes, the vibrating was back, this time somewhere near his butt, where he had discarded his phone. Lance stirred too, turning to face Keith, flapping an arm behind his back in search of what was disturbing them.

“What is this?” Lance questioned, barely audible. He took hold of the phone and squinted his eyes at it. “It’s your brother.”

Keith huffed out a breath and took his phone. Lance used this opportunity to curl more in the blanked and at the same time to snug more in Keith.

“I spoke with him already.” Keith groaned sleepily.

“What does he want?” Lance spoke from where his face was in Keith’s neck.

“I don’t know.” If Keith could have shrugged without moving Lance, he would have just that.

“You spoke with him?”

“I don’t know.” repeated Keith.

“Why are you not under the blanket?” wondered Lance, embracing the man next to him, getting him under the warm cover.

“You took it.” Keith replied and then answered the phone that was still in his hand. “I’m in Lance.” said Keith with his eyes closed.

There was silence on the other end for a few moments and Keith almost fell asleep again.

“What the fuck, Keith!?”

Keith opened his eyes at his brother’s angry tone and stared at the wall with blurry eyes.

“I mean I’m under him.”

“The hell, Keith. I don’t need to know _that_.”

“I mean I’m under the blanked in his apartment. What do you want so early Shiro?”

“We have been standing here for half an hour Keith! Come out right now!” Shiro insisted and then there was silence. Keith moved the phone away from his ear.

“What did he say?” Lance mumbled.

“He is outside.” answered Keith once again closing his eyes.

“Oh, ok.”

All of a sudden the two of them sat up and then jumped off the bed.

“Shiro is outside!” exclaimed Keith and grabbed his head. “Half an hour! He’s been waiting for me for half an hour! He is mad, Lance! He is furious!”

Lance looked around the room and picked up Keith’s shirt from the foot of the bed and gave it to him. Then he went to the crib and reached inside to caress Pidge’s hair. The toddler blinked at him, awake, but barely.

“Good morning, little dinosaur. Do you feel like helping Keith?” cooed Lance as he picked up his daughter gently. Pidge didn’t give an answer but she also didn’t protest when Lance gave her to Keith.

Keith, who was on his way out of the bedroom, looked at Lance with confusion.

“Go and invite Shiro and Allura for breakfast here. Pidge will be your shield, Keith. Look at her! The cuteness will distract your brother from his anger.” Keith had to admit that Pidge looked adorable – with her hair messy from sleeping, a pacifier in her mouth and the pajama onesie she was wearing.

“Yes, you’re right.” Keith agreed and put Pidge properly on his hip. The toddler settled, putting her head on his shoulder. She locked her eyes on her dad and extended an arm towards him.

Lance took her small hand and kissed it and then he gave a quick peck on the lips to Keith.

They were officially boyfriends for two days now. Nothing had changed beside the fact that they were more affectionate with each other, more touchy and braver when it came to kissing and what to kiss.

Perhaps because of the not so soft late make out session on the couch last night and their first sleepover in an actual bed, Keith completely forgot about Shiro’s visit.

Lance pushed Keith out of the room, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Go or you’ll make him angrier.”

Keith nodded and headed to the door.

“Pidge, if this works I’ll buy you ice cream. A huge one.”

 

* * *

 

 

“So” Allura started, stirring a spoon in her cereal. “Congratulations!”

Keith sighed and put his head on the table next to his plate. “Thank you.”

“You could have told us, you know.” Shiro commented while taking a bite out of his toast. The Pidge-shield had worked perfectly.

The moment Keith opened the door and stepped out to greet Allura and his brother, Pidge had saved the day. Allura first noticed the toddler and then Keith. There was some cooing and kisses. That had made the girl giggle around her pacifier. Shiro though, glared at Keith, at first ignoring the baby in his arms. He had gotten close and pointed a finger literally in Keith’s face, ready to erupt in a loud and long lection. When he opened his mouth, a small fist caught his finger and pulled at it.

Shiro closed his lips and looked down at the child. She was staring at him with wide eyes, a paci moving in her mouth. Not even a second later Shiro had taken her, cuddling her. Keith visibly relaxed, his shoulders slumping in relief.

Normal greetings were exchanged after that, the guests were invited to breakfast. While Shiro passed Keith on his way inside and told him “Just you wait until later.” Keith had to say, things were going better than expected so far.

“Do you have birthday Mr. Keith?” Hunk asked from his place on the table, a happy smile on his face.

Keith straightened up in his chair and looked weirdly at the boy. “Um, no?”

“Then why did Miss Allura tell you congratulations? Did you win something?” Hunk wondered.

Keith wasn’t sure what to say. _‘I’m dating your dad and my family finds it amusing? No…’_

Allura smiled and decided to save Keith. “We are just congratulating him on choosing a happy way in life.”

Hunk blinked in confusion at this but didn’t ask anything else.

“Lance has a very nice home.” Allura observed. Even though it was a little messy, the whole place had the feeling of a family home.  

“The dog is cool.” Shiro added. Voltron was one of the first things the couple had seen when they entered. The animal was pretty hard to miss.

“I found him.” Hunk declared with a happy grin. “Dad always complains about Voltron making a mess but I see how he pets him. He even hugged him on his bed while sleeping once. He must really like him then!”

Allura hummed in thought. “Yeah, he spoons everything he likes. That’s good for you Keith.”

Both Shiro and Keith looked at Allura with matching expressions of disbelief.

“Allura! In front of the kid too!” Shiro shook his head at his girlfriend.

The moment was cut short when the doorbell rang. The three adults on the table looked at each other. Lance had gone to dress Pidge. Keith was sure he had heard the bell but there was no sign of the man yet. Before any decision could be made, the door opened and someone entered the apartment.

“Lance!” a young voice yelled, stopping in front of the kitchen entryway.

Keith recognized the teenager. Dak’s hair looked newly painted. Again in purple, but this time a darker shade.

“Dak!” Hunk greeted him and waved. He would have hugged him, but breakfast was more important.

“Dak?! How did you get in here?” Lance was standing behind Dak, holding Pidge’s hand.

“Through the door.” explained the teenager as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It was unlocked.”

Shiro looked at Keith with his ‘you did it’ face. Keith was the one supposed to lock the door after he and the others got inside. It just slipped his mind.

Lance too looked at Keith with a mirroring ‘it’s your fault’.

“You are supposed to wait for someone to open the door, dude. Even if it’s unlocked.” Lance scolded, easily slipping in dad-mode. He put Pidge in her high chair and gave her a sippy cup.

Dak rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue in annoyance. “I’m here to walk your dog. Where is it?”

It has become a routine for Dak to give Voltron his morning walks. Lance couldn’t do it, because leaving the kids alone was no option and making Voltron wait for the kids to be fed and dressed was also not an option.

Dak had volunteered for the task in exchange of some cash and the permission to post photos of the big animal online. The boy had even bought a black spiky collar with a big skull hanging from it. Every time he takes the dog, he changes the collars. Lance laughs at it. He even asked once if his cuddly horse was not edgy and dramatic enough for the teenager. The only answer he got was a middle finger and a slammed door in the face.  

“Voltron! Your friend is here!” Lance shouted and the dog was instantly sitting on the ground next to Dak, pushing at his hip with his head.

“Lance, about tonight,” said Dak and entered the kitchen, leaning back on the counter after grabbing a toast from the table. “I won-”

“Did you greet out guests, Dak?” Lance asked, not leaving the boy to finish what he started saying.

“They are not my guests! And stop calling me Dak!” Dak replied, scowling. He bit into his toast with all the anger he had.

“Shiro, Allura this is Derrick.” introduced Lance with a smile, knowing how much the teen hated his real name.

Dak growled and kicked Lance’s chair. “Call me Sendak.” His tone was threatening and it made Allura and Shiro raise an eyebrow at him. The boy looked… well, he looked like he could potentially fulfill any threats, with all the piercings, and the chain hanging from his left ear. His black clothes and spiky boots were adding to the look. But Lance looked so at ease with him that they couldn’t take him seriously. Very unexpectedly, Dak looked down and murmured a quiet “Nice to meet you.”

Lance snorted and took a sip from his juice.  “Did you wash your hands before eating?”

That got him another kick on the chair.

“Stop kicking my chair and go wash your hands if you’ll eat.” instructed Lance using the same dad-tone.

“You are more irritating than my father!” the teen exclaimed but he did wash his hands before taking another toast. As he was reaching for the plate on the table, over Keith’s shoulder, his hand met that of Shiro. Dak glared at the other man and Shiro leaned back in his chair, putting his hands up in mock-surrender. _‘This kid is pretty amusing.’_ thought Shiro, observing the way Dak would pat Pidge on the head or would bump fists with Hunk.

“So” started again the teen “I can’t babysit tonight.”

“Daaaaak! We talked about this!” Lance whined as he tried to get Pidge to actually eat her cereal instead of dumping it on her shirt.

“Well, I’m busy.”

“If you are ditching my kids to go to a cemetery in hopes of finding a pet demon, I’ll spam comment all your profiles.” Dak valued his internet life a lot, mostly because it was better than his real life social interactions.

“Don’t you dare!” Dak yelled. “I have a date. That’s why I can’t babysit tonight.” he said.

All adults paused what they were doing and shared a look of surprise.

“You have a date?!” Lance repeated, standing up and leaving Pidge to bathe in her breakfast.

“Why is it so hard to believe!?” Dak grumped.

“You have exactly four friends, and I am counting Hunk in this one. I won’t even go into detail about your strange hobbies and how you can’t decide what shade of purple you like for your hair.”

“And you have a chain hanging from your ear.” Allura added nonchalantly. “ I can assure you that it’s kind of a turn off. For me at least. I don’t know who you are dating…”

“Really?” Shiro questioned curiously, leaning towards Allura.

“What?! You think so?” Dak demanded, crouching so he could see himself in the reflection of the metallic toaster. The chain in question was put with a clip at the top of his ear and it hanged down to his shoulder. It was big in size and it looked out of proportion next to his other piercings.

“Yes.” confirmed Allura. ”It will look cool on your pants though.” The woman stood up, circled around baffled Lance and went to the teen. Without even asking, she opened the clip and removed the chain.

The boy stood still, not moving a muscle, blushing in embarrassment. He was a little intimidated by how beautiful Allura was. And she smelled nice. The chain was now swinging from a belt loop to the end of one of the pockets.

“There!” Allura clapped her hands and returned to her seat. “You know chains can be a thing in the bedroom too.” she said almost as an afterthought and casually continued eating.

Shiro spat out his coffee and Keith choked on the juice he was drinking.  

“Yes.” Lance agreed, patting Keith’s back to help him through his chocking.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Lance yelled, waving his arms around once Keith calmed down. “Let’s get back to you” he pointed at Dak “ruining my date for your own date.”

“You are going on a date?!” Keith exclaimed, trying not to sound angry.

“Yeah, with you…”

“Oh, ok.”

Shiro laughed loudly, throwing his head back, leaning in the chair, tilting it on its hind legs. “Wow, you two are amazing.” 

Keith scowled and just like a certain teen earlier, he kicked the chair. However, he used way too much force and Shiro found himself lying on the ground. He was not laughing anymore.

The sudden noise startled Pidge and she cried out for her daddy who sighed and picked her up, not minding the wet mess on her shirt.

“We could babysit for your date.” Allura offered.

“Yeah we could- wait, what?” Shiro asked, still sitting on the floor.

“We could watch Hunk and Pidge while they go on their date. We can sleep in Keith’s apartment after that.”

“Yes.” agreed Shiro. “Babysitting shouldn’t be hard.”

“You are going to be here tonight?!” Hunk sounded very happy at the idea. “I’ll show you my sword and my pirate costume and the Lego se up, and also-” the child trailed off, disappearing in his room to prepare all the toys.

“Don’t run in the house!” Lance scolded and then addressed Shiro and Allura. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Yes, don’t worry. We are free tomorrow, so we can stay here without a problem.” Shiro assured the man, bopping Pidge’s nose across the table as a way to apologize for scaring her earlier.

“Ok, the problem is solved; I’m going out with Voltron now. If my dad asks, tonight I’m here. Bye Pidge, bye Allura” and with a last yell of “bye Hunk!” the teen was gone.   

“Interesting kid…” Allura commented.

“Ugh, tell me about it. But let’s leave the hormone bomb for now. Keith, what do you think about going out tonight?”

Keith scrunched his eyebrows. “Where am I going to sleep? If you two take my bed… I don’t have a couch.”

Simultaneously, Lance, Shiro, Allura and even Pidge, all looked at him with unreadable expressions.

“What?” Keith asked, not sure why they were looking at him like that. And then it dawned on him _where_ he could sleep. He said nothing and chose to return to his breakfast.

“So, where are you taking my little brother?” inquired Shiro.

“It’s a surprise!” Lance declared and stood up, discarding Pidge back in her highchair. “You’ll need a suit, though.” he told Keith.

“Why? Are we going to an expensive restaurant?” Keith asked Lance and then turned to Allura. “I have a suit, right?”

Allura nodded in confirmation.

“Nope, no restaurants. Too cliché.” answered Lance, collecting empty plates and glasses from the table, putting them in the sink. “Hmmm… imagine we are secret agents! We’re going to be on a mission. Kinda. Not exactly but whatever. Just imagine it.”

“Oooh, this sounds better than our dates.” Shiro commented lightly only to be met by Allura’s death glare. Shiro bit his lips and decided it was best for him if he didn’t say anything else.

“Agent Keith! You must be ready for takeoff at 7.30 p.m. The needed equipment is a suit and your hot body.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” Shiro commented lightly and finished his coffee. Allura laughed at how cute Lance and Keith were.

“Daaaaad, where is my gun? The one with orange handle?” came Hunk’s yell from his room.

“Agent Hunk, you will get your weapon of choice back when you start using inside voice.” Lance shouted just as loudly as his son.

“Daddy Pidge wants down.” the toddler told her dad. Lance put her on the ground and the girl started running to see where her brother was. Lance was about to scold her for running inside when Pidge tripped on a toy and fell down. She started crying immediately. Lance followed her out of the kitchen and picked her up.

“Special agent Pidge is down due to violation of the rules. What are we going to do about it? Maybe infinite amount of kisses will teach her.” Lance started landing kisses all around her face that was wet with tears.

Pidge started giggling madly, forgetting about the fall.

Her joyful laughter was joined by Hunk’s war cry. He ran in the kitchen, not wearing anything but his underwear, wielding a toy sword.

After a full circle around the table, Keith put a hand on the boy’s head to stop him in place. The kid and the man stared at each other for a while, not saying anything. Until Keith asked him why he was mostly naked.

“I’m a sumo wrestler! YEAH!” Hunk answered loudly and attacked a chair with his sword.

Allura put a hand on her mouth to stifle her laughter.

“Sumo wrestlers don’t have swords.” Shiro told the boy with a wide smile.

“Oh, yeah. I will win without this” the boy declared and threw the toy away. “I will capture you now.” With that the child ran again, this time straight at his dad, who had just put Pidge down.

Hunk crashed with full force against his father’s legs making the man stumble in surprise.

“What are you doing, Hunk? Where are your clothes?” Lance questioned amused.

“I am sumo wrestler, dad!”

“You are sumo wrestler alright. But there is a lady in the house, you can’t show in your underpants in front of a lady.” explained the young father as he pointed Allura.

“Then I’ll take them off and she won’t see them!” Hunk was pulling his pants down his legs before Lance could stop him.

“Oh my god, Hunk, no! Put them back on.”

Allura and Shiro couldn’t stop their laughter.

“You found yourself a lively bunch” Shiro commented while catching his breath.

“They found me.” said Keith through a smile. _‘And I’m not complaining’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> More of Shallura. Also more Sendak. Next time is a date, a formal one... I mean suits and stuff. And we saw some domestic morning fluff. I love fluff. :D 
> 
> Have a great week! :)


	13. Unwind

“Is this real?” Keith asked with disbelief, eyes moving to Lance only for a second.

Lance smirked and twirled a ring with a key on his finger.

“You are not joking?” said Keith, moving to slightly touch the car in front of him. “For real?”

“I’m not joking.” Lance replied from where he was leaning against the red vehicle. “I told you! It’ll be like a movie scene. Like we are spies or something. But not really. Kinda the same, though.”

Lance went to stand next to Keith, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “So, what do you think?”

“It’s not stolen, right?”

“Keith! Of course not!” Lance exclaimed. “It’s ours for a test drive. Some time ago I did a photoshoot for a Jaguar auto show in the city.”

“And what? They give you cars for free now?”

“It’s just a test drive. I have to return it unscratched. But because I know the manager of the place, we get to drive without one of their representatives.” Lance explained.

”What about the suits?” Keith enquired curiously. He had to admit that Lance looked perfect in his suit, a new elegant side of the man was revealed to Keith.

“Well” Lance started smugly as he looked Keith from head to toe, not for the first time tonight. “Such a beauty deserves the special attention in detail. And I was sure you’ll look hot as fuck.”

“You look hot to fuck too.” Keith declared letting a smirk in response to Lance’s one. The black-haired man eyed the key in Lance’s hand with longing.

“Hey Lance,” he said suddenly initiating a full hug, letting his face rest in Lance’s neck. Lance, pleasantly surprised, didn’t say anything beside a low hum in response.

“Thank you for tonight.” as he spoke and landed a kiss against Lance’s neck. Keith smirked when Lance shuddered. “It’s red and brand new.” he continued on while taking one of Lance’s hands in his own. He squeezed it. “That’s why I am driving it!” he snatched the key from Lance’s hold and went to the driver’s door.

Lance stood stunned for a second. He shook his head and pouted.

“That’s not fair Keith! You use my own tactics against me! So sly…” Lance muttered. However, Keith didn’t hear his as he was already in the car. He leaned in the driver’s seat and took hold of the wheel.

Lance entered next to him and ran a hand over the dashboard. Keith started the car and everything lit up inside.

“Oh man, do you hear this? Keith, she is purring for us!”

Keith nodded and put both hands on the steering wheel. He turned his head towards Lance, not bothering to hide his excitement.

“Where are we going?”

“Outside the city. There is this scenic road that is in a very good condition and it’s not well known. We’ll be able to speed up this bae there.”   

  

* * *

 

“You know, Allura, children aren’t that hard to manage after all.” Shiro stated with a proud voice. He was kneeling on the ground in the bathroom, drying Hunk’s hair with a towel. They were alone with the kids for over half an hour now and things were going smoothly.

After getting no response, Shiro left Hunk to brush his teeth alone and went to see what Allura was doing.

“Allura?” he said, walking in the living room. Allura was nowhere to be seen but Pidge was there along with Voltron.

Pidge was standing next to the door of Lance’s bedroom, facing the wall. She had a crayon in her hand and was very concentrated on her painting on the wall. Voltron, who was lying down next to her was licking on the scribbles. The girl patted her dog on the head and drew a small circle, filled it in and let the dog lick it.

“No. No. No! Allura! We have an emergency!” Pidge, way too immersed in her drawing, didn’t acknowledge the adult. She continued her art work.

“What?” Allura asked, coming from the kitchen. “Oh, no! Pidge! Shiro! Why are you just standing there like that!?”

“What do you want me to do? You were supposed to watch her!” Shiro defended himself, moving towards the toddler.

“I left for one minute! One!” Allura explained.

Shiro didn’t say anything back. He bended slightly and put a hand on top of Pidge’s head.

“Hey, Pidge. What are you doing?”

“Pidge paint!” the child sounded so happy. She smiled up at Shiro and gestured to the wall. “Paint.”

“Uhm, Pidge, does daddy let you draw on the walls?” asked Allura, already knowing the answer.

“Yes!” Pidge exclaimed with a grin.

Shiro pursed his lips at the apparent lie and moved his attention to the dog.

“Why is he licking it? Is this normal?”

Allura shrugged her shoulders, crouching next to Voltron. She put a hand over his muzzle and the animal huffed out a breath, and stood up, going to his bowl with water.

“Nooooo!” Pidge protested and reached after him. Shiro picked her up and put her on his hip.

“Let’s leave Voltron. How about a bath for you, huh?”

The toddled dropped the crayon she was clutching and scrunched up her face in dislike. She started pushing against Shiro’s chest.

“Pidge paint. Shito, paint! Shito!”

“What did you just call me?!”

“Noooo!” By this point Pidge was crying angry tears.

Allura was scrubbing the crayon off the wall while Shiro was trying his best to sooth a wailing Pidge when Hunk joined them.

“Mr. Shiro, I put out too much toothpaste.”

Shiro turned around to look at the boy. Hunk had toothpaste all over his face and his pajamas. There was some in his hair too.

“How did you even… you just took a bath, Hunk. Nooooo!” Shiro’s annoyed whine merged with Pidge’s still ongoing cries.    

 

* * *

 

Keith was enjoying driving Bae, as Lance had named the car. It was so fast, so smooth. Or as Lance has said:

“It’s so sexy. You’ll have to forgive me if I finish before you tonight, Keith.” That earned him an annoyed scoff and a slap on the shoulder.

They were on a high road, giving them amazing view of the city below. Lance sighed contently as he leaned back on his seat. He was about to fiddle with the radio when his eyes spotted something familiar.

“Hey Keith, pull over here.”

Keith did as Lance requested, the car coming to a stop from their high speed smoothly.

“Come on! You have to see this.”

The men stepped over the guardrail of the road and walked a few meters until they reached the edge of the cliff. Below them was the city, its lights looking like a reflection of the clear night sky, shimmering like stars.

Keith stared wide eyed, eyes filled with amazement.

“Do you like it?” Lance asked as he took a sit on the ground.

“It’s very beautiful.” Keith said, sitting next to Lance, their shoulders and tights touching. “And don’t you dare say something cheesy like ‘Beautiful like you’ or ‘Not as beautiful as you’.” the man added as if reading the mind of the young father.

Lance laughed at Keith’s words, his laughter getting lost in the vast quietness. “You know me so well already.”

Keith snorted and let his gaze meet Lance’s. “And I feel like you know me too… or at least you know who I am now. But you don’t know who I was before.”

Lance cocked his head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I have never told you why I moved, for example….”

Sensing that the topic was a hard one for Keith, Lance offered to talk about it another time, but Keith declined.

“I’ll try to be short. I lived in an orphanage. I had some foster homes, but none of these families stuck for long. After the third one I learned not to get attached so I would stop feeling disappointed.” After a deep breath Keith continued.

“I was ten when Shiro’s parents came to visit with the intention to adopt. At the time I had long ago gotten used to being by myself and not having friends. I was the oldest kid there and I was sure no one would adopt me. But then _they_ came.” Keith looked up at the sky, eyes heavy with memories.

Lance squeezed Keith’s hand in a way to show his silent support and encouragement.

“The first weeks in their home I didn’t speak to anyone. What was the point if they were going to return me… Slowly though, with a lot of effort on their side, the walls I had built over the years started cracking. Shiro was the first person I spoke to directly. I told him he was stupid because he had messed up the temperature for the laundry.” Keith laughed fondly.

“Afterwards I ran away, thinking he would tell his parents to take me back… Two hours later he found me hiding in the attic. Instead of angry scowl he was wearing a happy grin. He hugged me and that made me cry. It was the first hug I have had in a very long time.” Keith’s eyes teared a bit, but he didn’t let any tears fall.

“Keith…” Lance started but Keith cut him short.

“It was _perfect_ after that. One step at a time I let myself become a part of a family. Life was good. After high school I got into training, and then missions came. The scars I showed you…  and death. It was nobody’s fault, a car accident in the heavy rain. All of a sudden I was an orphan again. I did my best to be strong for Shiro because I knew what this pain felt like while it was completely new to him. I-I” Keith’s voice wavered a little and he cleared his throat.

“I wasn’t. I wasn’t strong enough. I decided to move, to give myself some space, to run away from the memories… to simply escape.”

Lance didn’t let go of Keith’s hand the whole time. Some time passed like that, the two of them looking over the city in silence.

“This time it wasn’t Shiro who found me with a smile on his face.”

Lance locked eyes with Keith, waiting for him to continue.

“It was you Lance. This time it was you.”

These words brought a smile on Lance’s face and he leaned forwards, touching his forehead to Keith’s. They shared a kiss and turned back around.

A few more quiet minutes passed. Lance was the one to break the silence.

 “I come to this place when something troubles me greatly. I find it quite easy to think here…” Lance bit his lips in thought. “Some people say that being this high up, with similar views… it makes them feel on top of the world.” he chuckled.

“That’s not the case for me, tough… If anything, I feel so small here, with the big city, the endless sky, the lights of the universe… how could I feel on top of anything when everything is engulfing me? Perhaps… it is to observe. To observe the world. I feel like I’m in a timeless bubble, while everything down there continues on.”

“Like you are more than just a human sitting on a cliff.” Keith continued, making Lance look at him.

“You are a part of this world and now you can see it. You can see its whole and true form. The beauty of the night mixed with the shine of the city lights. Like a part of a dream. Surreal, but at the same time completely realistic.” By the end of his speech, Keith had stood up on his knees. He leaned slightly and took Lance’s face in his hands gently.

“I am here with you, under the countless stars and that makes me feel completed, Lance. For the first time in months I feel like I belong again. Like I belong to happiness and l-love. Not death and mourning.”

They stayed like that for some time, continuing the conversation with their eyes, letting emotions flow between them. Now it was only kisses and touches, no words were needed anymore. They had said what was needed to be said.

Later, when they were heading back to the car, Lance with now wrinkled and unbuttoned in some places white shirt under a creased suit jacket, teased Keith, equally ruffled looking.

“Who knew you had it in you to be so poetic, Keith.”

Keith blushed. “I’m driving!” he exclaimed and pushed Lance to the side.

“Hey! Not fair! It’s my turn! Get your hands off my Bae!” 

 

* * *

 

“Which book do you want before bed, Hunk?” Shiro asked after having done the second monster check in the boy’s room.

“I don’t want a book, I want a dino story!” Hunk was resting under his covers, looking excitedly up at Shiro. On the other hand, Shiro looked dead on his feet. He had spent the whole day after breakfast outside with Allura. But the long walk wasn’t what drained him. Two hours into babysitting he came to the conclusion that children were rather… difficult.

So far Hunk had to be bathed two times and he had to change two sets of pajama tops, one stained with toothpaste, the other with stolen from the kitchen chocolate. Pidge cried four times within one hour - once when they interrupted her wall drawing activity, then when Shiro accidently stepped on a small robot, crushing it to pieces, when Allura told her she couldn’t bathe with her socks on. Lastly she cried when they tried to put new socks on her feet. 

However, all the crying seemed to help the baby fall asleep. Pidge had dozed off against Allura’s shoulder while sucking on her pacifier. Lance had told Shiro and Allura about the situation with Pidge’s night terrors and how sometimes she had trouble going to bed. Luckily for them, the small girl slept soundly after Allura tucked her in her crib.

That left Shiro to deal with Hunk. Shiro thought that was the easier task because Hunk didn’t cry because he had socks on and he didn’t need a nighttime-diaper. And he didn’t call him ‘Shito’.

“A dino story? Which book is that?” Shiro looked quickly through all the titles on Hunk’s shelf but he couldn’t see anything about dinosaurs.

“It’s not a book. It’s a story that’s only in your head.” Hunk explained patiently, snuggling deeper in his pillow. Shiro bit his lip in thought but no such stories came to his mind.

“Allura!” the man called. Allura entered the room in fast strides shushing her boyfriend angrily.

“You’ll wake up Pidge! Be quiet!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Shiro apologized. “Do you know dino stories?”

“No.”

“Sorry Hunk. Why don’t you just choose a book?” offered Shiro, hoping the kid will accept.

“Nuh-uh! I know a lot of dino stories! I’ll tell them to you!” the boy beamed at the two adults. He pushed the blanket away from himself and sat up in bed.

“Hey, where are you going?” Allura laughed. She sat on Hunk’s bed and made the boy lay down again, tucking him in.

“But I want to take the dinosaurs so I can show them with the story!”

“Tell me where they are, I’ll give them to you. You stay there.” Shiro’s offer for help was accepted and he was instructed to search in a colorful plastic box in one of the corners for a T-rex, a Herrerasaurus, a Brachiosaurus and two Eoraptors. Shiro had nodded with a smile but the moment he turned his back to the bed his face was overcome with a confused expression. _‘Are these the real names or is he making them up?’_

He opened the box and sighed deeply. It was entirely full with different sizes and kinds of dinosaurs. The t-rex was easy to spot so he took it out and threw it at Allura. He scratched his head and pulled another toy.

“This is a Giraffatitan. I don’t need it for the story.” Hunk said from the bed.

“This one?”

“That’s a Camarasaurus.”

“Uuuh and this?”

“A Sarcosaurus.”

“What was I looking for? It was something like herring and bronchitis.”

  

* * *

 

 

“Hey, do you want to grab a drink?” Keith asked after spotting a bar across the street.

“It’s late, your brother and Allura are-” Lance was interrupted by Keith as the other man took his hand and pulled him towards the entrance of the bar.

“Shiro and Allura won’t mind. I’ll text Shiro. Come on, after the emotional shit we need to unwind.”

“I was planning to unwind you in Bae, but we had to return her before I got the chance…” Lance sounded really disappointed. Keith rolled his eyes and took out his phone. He typed a fast text to his brother.

_‘We are going to grab something to eat. And drink. Will probably be late. Call us if something happenes’_

* * *

 

 

At 1 a.m. Shiro was soundly sleeping cuddled up next to his lovely girlfriend on Lance’s couch. Hunk had fallen asleep while listing of the names of all the dinosaurs Shiro took out of the box. He was halfway through, when after lifting a plastic brownish figure with long neck, no response came.

Allura had turned off the lights and the two adults retired to the living room. Shiro got Keith’s text. He was happy that his brother was letting himself live a little.

The two of them watched a movie and they must have dozed off at some point. Shiro’s phone was vibrating in his pocket and he took it out.

_‘can u take us with your not sexy car?’_

Shiro squinted sleepily at the screen and started typing.

**‘Where are you?’**

When he received the address, Shiro stood up carefully, covered Allura with a blanked at exited the apartment.

Fifteen minutes later he was parking next to very drunk looking Keith and Lance. Keith’s suit jacket was missing, his sleeves were rolled to his elbows and hi shirt was fully unbuttoned. Lance was wearing only his jacket, his naked torso showing. Shiro rolled down his window.

“What happened with your spy date? Mission gone wrong?” he asked amused.

“Ooooh Shiro! Bae was amazing!”

Lance’s words were slurred, but Shiro managed to make out what he said.

“Bae?”

“She was sooo beautiful, Shiro! But Lance couldn’t unwind me in her” Keith said, his speech just as slurred as Lance’s. And it was making no sense to the sober man.

“Never mind, get in, I’m taking you home.”

Lance entered, almost falling in the process but managing to keep his balance. Once he was inside, Keith sat next to him in the backseat.

“What happened to going to grab something to eat?” inquired Shiro as he exited the parking.

“Ooooh I want to eat a sausage!” Lance yelled sending Keith a drunken grin, making his innuendo clear to everyone. Keith laughed shortly while Shiro grunted in disgust.

“How about no?! God, Lance…”

He got no answer but he could hear the two males in the backseat chuckling at something. The chuckles were followed by a moan and Shiro quickly pulled over. He turned around and shoved Keith off of Lance. Both of them protested, not wanting their make out session interrupted. Keith was in the middle of taking his pants off.

“No sex in the car! No sex in front of me. Period. Keith, I mean it! Pull up your pants right now!”

“You are no fun Shiirooo.” Lance complained with a pout. The ‘Shiro’ sounded more like ‘Shmiro’ because of the slur.

They were almost at the apartment. Shiro thought that the two men were asleep, but he was proven wrong when Lance dropped a very loud “OH NO!”

“What? What happened?” Shiro asked trying to see if he should stop the car.

“Where is my shirt? It’s not here!” Lance sounded so panicked.

“Oh no, Shiro, his shirt is gone!” Keith joined in with his own drunken panic.

“Shirooooo”

“Are you crying?! Why are you crying? Don’t you have other shirts?” Shiro was starting to regret moving from that couch.

“But people will see him naked, Shiro!”

Face planting in the steering wheel sounded very tempting to Shiro right now.

“He has a jacket.” _‘Don’t get angry, Shiro. They’re just drunk.’_

“But I don’t have a jacket! Oh no! They’ll see me naked, too!”

“Keith! Stop it! You were ready to take your penis out five minutes ago and now you are worried about people seeing you naked? You two owe me so much…”

**\--**

**Bae:**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> Bae is Jaguar F type SVR, I know nothing about cars, I used google to find her :D   
> So, we have an emotional part, we have drunk Klance and we have Pidge and Hunk not going easy on Shiro and Allura...  
> Also, Shito is a thing now, 'cause Pidge. strawberry_milk_forever pointed out a place where I had written Shito instead of Shiro and I like it :D   
> I am finally home for the holidays, so I expect to have more time for writing :D
> 
>  
> 
> Have a great week! :)


	14. Pretend

“Oi, Lance. Oi!”

“Mmm?” Lance’s head was burrowed in Keith’s hair. He tried opening his eyes but it felt like his eyelids were glued together. Eventually, he managed to pray them open just a little bit and regretted it immediately. The morning light just contributed for the throbbing in his head that he just now noticed.

“Come on, dumbass, I have to take Voltron for a walk. Wake up!” Lance really didn’t want to listen to the irritating voice, it sounded strange, like it couldn’t decide if it should be deep or softer, boyish. Lance scrunched up his nose in annoyance.

Why was Dak talking to him so early? Instead of answering, he closed his eyes again and hugged Keith tighter, hosting one leg over the man’s torso. Perhaps if he became one with Keith, Dak will stop seeing him. Perhaps he should stop watching so many animations with Hunk and Pidge, his logic was hurt. Or was it the headache?

“You can crawl up his ass for all I care! That won’t save you! Get up, Lance!”

Why was Dak in his apartment in the first place? This made Lance open an eye and peek from Keith’s hair, doing his best to focus on the figure standing at the foot of the bed.

“How’d you get in here?” Lance asked with groggy voice.

“Shiro let me in. They had to go, something about sightseeing on the way home? Whatever, they left Pidge and Hunk with me. I have to go out with Viltron or _your_ dog will pee inside _your_ house.” Dak explained impatiently with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Where are my children?” suddenly questioned Lance lifting his head to see the empty crib.

“Eating breakfast.” the teen answered shortly, the frown on his face deepening. “Why are you not getting up?”

“Why are you yelling?” Keith groaned and squinted at the blurry shape with messy purple blob of a hair.

“I HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED YELLING!” Dak shouted angrily, making both males wince. Lance let his head plop back on the pillow, almost colliding with Keith’s nose in the process.

The two of them were just snuggling together again when the warmth of the cover over their bodies disappeared. Dak was now standing next to Keith with the blanked hanging from his fisted hands. The boy raised an eyebrow at their choice for sleepwear – dress pants.

“Why are you doing this to us?” Lance whined.

“You are such babies!”

“Hey, Dak. How was your date last night? Ours was perfect.” Lance spoke with a smirk.

“Yeah, Shiro told me, even showed me photos. Mine was times better. I didn’t cry in the backseat of a car because I was shirtless.” the teen commented and moved to open the window so some fresh air could replace the smell of… _hangover_.   

“Uh, no. I didn’t cry. I don’t remember. Did I cry, Keith?” the young father asked with confidence.

“Mmm I don’t think so. I don’t remember. I remember making out at the bar and then you took off your shirt so I could lick-”

“Ok, enough! You are disgusting.”

Lance kissed Keith’s bare chest and sat up. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, got up and stretched loudly. Then, Lance turned back around and looked directly at Dak. “You said your date went well and sooner or later this will lead to certain desires. I know for a fact that you watch porn but-”

“Hell no! We are not having this conversation!” Dak’s face got red and Lance wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment.

“It’s part of your life, Dak. You have two heads, they sometimes think differently…” Lance trailed off, knowing fully well how he was riling up the teen.

“Stop right now!” Dak ordered and moved towards the door.

“Protection is very important.” Keith added from his place on the bed. He was still squinting at the world, clearly not ready to be fully awake.

Lance nodded in agreement. “There are so many different kinds too. Flavors, textures, you can experiment with what you like-” he got cut off by a plastic cow toy hitting him on the head. Maybe leaving all the toys lying around wasn’t a good idea.

“Shut up!” Dak snarled and stormed out of the room and seconds later the front door was slammed shut.

 

* * *

 

 

“Mr. Keith! You are wearing dad’s clothes!” Hunk laughed as if seeing Keith in Lance’s bright blue shorts and a white shirt with some cartoon princess on it was the funniest sight in the world.

Keith has showered while Lance went to tend to breakfast time. Borrowing Lance’s clothes was a necessity because the white dress shirt he wore yesterday smelled like alcohol and going to his apartment for some top and shorts seemed too much of a hassle. Keith kind of rethought his decision when he was handed the white shirt with Elsa on it. _‘Why does he have that in his size?’_

Currently, Lance was the one taking a shower and Keith had just taken a plate with scrambled eggs that was waiting for him in the kitchen. Hunk was waiting for him to watch the newest episode of Galactic Robots. Pidge was building something with blocks on the floor in the living room.

“Elsa is cool, right?” Hunk grinned as Keith sat next to him on the couch.

“I guess…” Keith replied reluctantly. He hasn’t watched the popular movie, but there was no way he could miss the viral song. He knew all about letting it go and Elsa’s powers.

“No, no.” the boy sighed. “I mean, she is _cool,_ ‘cause she can control ice. Dad told me this joke.”

_‘Go figure.’_

“Hunk,” Keith started and put a hand on Hunk’s head “I’ll tell you something important.” Hunk nodded and looked eagerly.

“Don’t tell your dad’s jokes. Ever.” Keith finished and patted the boy’s hair.

Hunk scrunched up his nose in confusion. He liked dad’s jokes. One moment he was thinking about jokes and the next he noticed the absence of something important.

The child jumped from the couch and ran in his room, yelling something about getting the leader of the V-army.

Keith was about to call after him when Pidge hugged his legs, putting her head against his knees.

“Kit! Kit! Wee-wee! Pidge wee-wee!”

The first thing that came to Keith’s mind is that she wanted to pee.

“Pidge cop-porn wee-wee, Kit. Cop-porn!” and the first thing that came to his mind at this was nothing Pidge should know or want. So the most logical reaction was to look in the toddler’s big innocent eyes and sputter a loud “The fuc- the hel- What?”

“Cop-porn?” spoke the small girl. “Wee-wee.” She added again, as if it made things easier to understand.

“I have no idea what you are saying…” Instead of trying harder to understand what Pidge was saying, Keith stood up and picked her up, going towards the bathroom. If she wanted to pee, that was the place. He knew toddlers weren’t the best at bladder control, and her night diaper has been removed already.

“Cop-porn?” Pidge asked hopefully as they were nearing the bathroom door.  The shower was heard from inside along with Lance’s singing. It was loud, it was shrill and it was obnoxious. Complete turnaround from the soft lullabies. Keith started wide eyed at the door. His headache returned with full power.  

_Give my life to be in_

_The book of love_

Keith started pounding on the door. “Lance!”

The singing stopped and so did the shower. When Lance opened the door, Keith licked his lips unconsciously because _‘Damn, why is he so hot. His wet, smooth skin, dripping hair and the towel so low on his hips…’_ All of a sudden Keith could recall very clearly exactly how Lance’s lips felt against his body. Keith would have gone even more down the road, had Pidge not started wiggling in his arms, successfully smacking him in the face.

Lance was looking pretty smug, aware of what was going in Keith’s mind.

“Yes?” Lance spoke as he ran a hand through his wet hair.

“Pidge wants to watch cop porn after she pees.”

“What kind of conversations are you having with her?” Lance exclaimed unbelievingly.

“She said it, not me!”

“Daddy! Pidge wee-wee cop-porn! Kit, daddy.” Pidge started to sound impatient.

“See!”

“Keith! She wants to watch the TV and have some pop-corn. Isn’t it time for Galactic Robots? That has to be it!” Lance laughed. Keith felt really annoyed. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t understand baby speech.

He turned on his heel, Pidge still in his hold, only stopping to call over his shoulder “Your shower singing is just as bad as your jokes!”

Lance gasped in mock hurt and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “That was unnecessarily mean. Why don’t you come in the shower with me next time? A private performance. Maybe then you’ll value my shower-abilities more! Don’t blush so much Elsa, you’re gonna melt!”

 

* * *

 

 

“Is Mr. Keith your girlfriend?” Hunk’s question came unexpectedly and Keith dropped his phone on his face in surprise.

Lance and Keith were lounging on the couch. Lance was sitting in the middle with his computer on his lap, working on something. Keith was leaning heavily on him, almost laying his head in his lap, next to the laptop. He was playing games on his phone, feeling sleep creeping in on him.

On Lance’s other side was Pidge. She had given in to sleep half an hour ago and was now curled up with a soft blanket, a plushy, and a thumb in her mouth. Hunk had decided to draw, and was doing so quietly on the floor.

It was a peaceful and comfortable quietness. And then Hunk got curious.

“No, he is my boyfriend.” Lance replied while absently rubbing the red spot on Keith’s forehead where the phone hit him. He was still looking at his computer’s screen but it was obvious that his attention wasn’t at the translation he was typing just a second ago.

The topic of his relationship was something Lance wanted to explain carefully to his children. He cared a lot for Keith and really wished to include him in their little circle. However, he wanted Pidge and Hunk to know that if they felt uncomfortable or confused at any moment they could share with their dad. He loved them _so much_ , and Keith’s presence won’t change this fact.

“Do you kiss?”

“We do.” Lance replied and beckoned his son to come forward. Hunk left his painting and sat on the couch, on Keith’s side, by the man’s shoulders.

“I guess it’s ok if he isn’t a girlfriend… Boyfriends don’t have cooties. Boys are cool.”

Lance chuckled at the childish logic.

“If Mr. Keith is your boyfriend, does that mean he can tell us about his superhero work?”

“Nope. It’s still top secret.” Lance shook his head and smiled. Keith bit his lips in order not to show a mirroring grin.

“And what do I call you now?” Hunk asked, turning on his knees so he could face Keith.

Keith put his phone away and thought about it. “Hmm, not Mr. Keith. Just Keith is fine.”

“Will you live here, Keith? ‘Cause we have a sister and a dog already…” Hunk stated with a voice laced with worry.  

“Hunk, Keith isn’t an animal, he’s an adult so the rules are different.” Lance tried to muffle his laughter as not to wake up Pidge.

“Will Mr. Shiro visit us again? I really like his arm.” It seemed Hunk was done with the relationship quiz.

“I can make him send only the arm, no need to see him again so soon.” Keith snorted and made a mental note to actually tell his brother that.

 

* * *

 

 

“This is Lance, my second dad.”

Lance stood dumbstruck at the front door. Dak was standing on the other side with another boy, more like a mountain. Voltron had already run inside, intend on finding Hunk. His morning walk had turned into a full day date, as Dak had informed Lance via a text.

“He is not my biological dad. We have been like a family for a long time, though.” Dak’s explanations did nothing to ease the fog of confusion in Lance’s mind.

“Lance, uh, this is Zack. I told you about him.”

Zack was a very tall person. He passed Lance, by only a few centimeters, but still he was taller. He looked to be around Dak’s age. However, it wasn’t his height that shocked Lance the most. The boy was wearing khaki shorts and a short sleeved shirt with stars on it, its buttons done up to the very last one on his neck. His dark hair was slicked back, opening his face. _‘How did these two find each other?’_ thought Lance, glancing at Dak and his oversized black shirt, teared up jeans and all the metal pieces on his ears.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir.” Zack said with a deep voice, extending his hand towards Lance.

“Uuuh, yes. Yes, nice to meet you too, Zack.” Lance shook the offered hand.

“No need to be so respectful with him.” Dak murmured.

“The boy has manners, Dak. Do you know that word?” Lance teased, earning himself a scoff from the purple head.

“Whatever, can we enter or do we need to stay here forever?”

“Ah, of course. Come in, I’m sorry, Zack, it’s messy, but I had no idea we were having guests…” the man let the two boys in and closed the door.

“Don’t worry, sir. I’m sorry to intrude like that.”

Lance waved him off. “Nonsense. I’m so happy that Dak has finally found someone… he is usually so lonely… OW!”

Dak kicked Lance in the leg, pretending it was by accident while he was taking off his shoes.

“Dak!” Hunk yelled happily and ran to hug Dak. The teen smiled slightly as he patted the child on the back.

“This is Hunk. Hunk, this is Zack.”

The tall boy crouched in front of Hunk.

“Hello, Hunk.”

Hunk waved a greeting shyly.

“Lance, who was-” Keith didn’t finish his sentence, noticing the new additions.

“Zack, this is my dad, Keith. Dad, this is Zack.”

Lance had to put both of his hands over his mouth in order to stop the laugh that wanted to escape him. Keith’s face looked like a stone. He was probably not sure what to feel – confusion, amusement, surprise. Maybe a cocktail of all of these and a pinch of what the fuck?

“It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”

Lance, who was standing behind the teenagers was giving Keith a thumbs up and nodding his head. Keith sighed and shook Zack’s hand with a flat “Nice to meet you.”

“Zack, would you like something? We have tea, a big assortment of juice boxes and a variety of flavored milk…” Lance proposed with a joyful grin. Pidge was hiding behind her father's legs, peeking at their guest.

“No, it’s ok, sir.” Zack answered. He smiled at the toddler and won himself a giggle.

“Dak, your friend is too polite. Go with your _dad_ to make some tea.”

The teen grabbed Keith’s arm and dragged him towards the kitchen. Once they were alone Keith demanded “What the hell was that?” at the same time as Dak hissed a quiet “Don’t freak out!”

“Look,” begun Dak and put some water for the tea “my parents are… not very supportive of who I am. If I bring a boy home… let’s just not get there, it’ll be so annoying and…” the boy put his hands in the air trying to find the best word to finish his thought “…ugh. Whatever, Zack wanted to meet my parents and after the shit Lance pulled this morning…”

“Then why am I your father and not Lance?” Keith inquired.

“Because I look more like you than like Lance! And you did nothing to stop him!”

“I look too young to be your dad.”

“I told Zack that you had me when you were fifteen. And that young-looking is in our genes.”

“What!?”

“Please, Keith!”

“You know,” Lance joined the conversation from the doorway “he doesn’t say please that often.” He entered and stood next to Keith, putting a hand around his waist. “It’ll be like playing pretend.”

Keith rolled his eyes and relaxed slightly. “Why are you not against this?”

“He isn’t doing anything bad… Zack looks like a very decent boy, congrats for that, Dak.”

Dak glared at his neighbor but didn’t say anything.

“Fine, fine.” Keith agreed finally. A few hours of pretend wouldn’t hurt. _‘I hope so.’_ “Do I need to say something specific? I don’t know what you told him.”

“No, no, no. Just be yourself.” Dak assured and took out five mugs and a sippy cup.

“Don’t worry, Keith. You already made a good impression on the kid. You are rocking the Elsa shirt. I’ll teach you a few dad-jokes and nobody will doubt you.”

“No!” both Keith and Dak snapped.

“Don’t you dare repeat anything he tells you to say!” Dak commanded Keith while pointing at Lance.

“That is no way to speak to your father. And I expect you to respect my boyfriend.” was everything Keith said. He took two of the mugs and exited the room.

Dak stared after the man in disbelief.

“He’ll do perfectly.” Lance ruffled the teen’s hair, earning himself a scowl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! I wish you a lot of smiles and warm moments :)
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> The song that Lance is singing in the shower is Give My Life by Army Of Lovers . Now, if you decide to check it out, be aware the video is not something easy to explain to your family... :D
> 
> Some baby talk here :D Some time ago while browsing through job offers I saw one that had a requirement - Understanding baby talk. I was like wtf, but who knows, maybe they meant being able to understand the connection between cop-porn and popcorn :D   
> More Dak, we see his new boyfriend. Zack is my interpretation of Zarkon... I don't need him as antagonist in this story, so why not turn him into a semi-hipster teen, who is dating our Dak?
> 
> Have great holidays! :)


	15. D in the A

In what felt like the blink of an eye, almost a full month had went by. Keith’s and Lance’s relationship passed all the bases and thanks to Dak’s babysitter duty and Keith’s empty of people apartment, their sex life was actually progressing a lot.

Another purpose of Keith’s apartment was its use for washing clothes.

“Two laundry machines are way better than one.” Lance had said and Keith had to agree, because it was undoubtedly more comfortable and the floor in Lance’s bedroom cleared of the piles with dirty clothes.

Keith had to work on a very good strategy in order to keep the ground as tidied as possible. If he wasn’t careful, what once were dirty shirts, would be replaced by clean ones – belonging to the both adults and Pidge. Lance was messy but Keith had the determination to fight.  

Hunk and Pidge had gotten so used to Keith’s presence by now that all kind of shyness seemed to had disappeared.

The kids often requested for games with Keith specifically. It made Lance grin widely before he would start to whine in mock-jealousy.

Somehow, Keith found himself basically living with Lance. He adapted quickly to everyday life with two kids, a gigantic dog and Lance. Not to mention the regular visits of his ‘son’. At the beginning he thought he would get overwhelmed. However, the small family fit in just right in his day. Or maybe he fit in theirs.

He would still go running by himself some mornings and Lance let him do it without pushing to join. The young father understood the need for some alone time. Lance, himself, had moments where he felt the urgent need to spend some time only in his own company.

Usually, for him that happened during long, relaxing baths after the children went to bed.  Now, that Keith was there, Lance could afford to listen to music, read a book or even watch his soap opera while relaxing in hot water and scented bubbles. Keith was the one to keep an eye for emergencies with the kids.

So far, his services were never needed aside from finding lost plushies. But there was a first time for everything.

Lance was in the middle of one of his baths, headphones plugged in his ears and head tilted back against the white bathtub. Keith was lying in bed, scrolling through his phone. The whole apartment was silent, as it should be at eleven p.m. Hunk and Pidge were long asleep. So was Voltron, who jumped on the couch the moment Lance closed the bathroom door.

The dog was not allowed to sleep there, but Keith was unsuccessful in getting him down, so he gave up and pretended he didn’t see anything.

Keith had been so entranced in his phone that the sudden cry from the crib on the other side of the bed startled him. He had heard this scream before – Pidge was having a nightmare. This was the first time in the last month and honestly, Keith had forgotten about it.

But here she was, crying loudly in distress, and here Keith was – the only one in this situation to do something. For a second he thought about going to retrieve Lance, but the shrill cries made him go towards the wooden crib instead.

Pidge’s face was smeared with tears and snot, her pacifier had fallen from her mouth and was now next to her head. Her little fists were clutching her blanked strongly.

“Hey, Pidge, it’s ok. Stop it now.” Keith tried but it only made the toddler look at him and continue crying.

Keith picked her up, hugging her to his chest, keeping a hand under her bottom and the other against her head. He swayed a few times the way he had seen Lance do it and it seemed to help. Pidge was now producing tears quietly and Keith took it as a small victory.

He bent a little so he could take her paci and blanket from her bed but Pidge took it as a sign that she was being lowered back in the crib and with a yell in protest, she did her best to attach herself as good as possible to Keith’s naked torso. As her short nails dug in the skin around his shoulders and back, Keith regretted not wearing a shirt to bed.

“Shh, Pidge. Here, take your paci and let’s go to bed.”

Pidge shook her head, grumped out a “No, Kit!” and buried it in Keith’s neck leaving a trail of tears. Keith decided to deny the existence of snot on his skin.

Keith sighed and wished Lance would be faster at least tonight. He sat reluctantly on the bed and adjusted Pidge so she was sitting in his lap.

“You probably want your daddy, right?” Keith questioned and received a nod in response.

“Pidge want daddy. Where?”

“Daddy is in the bath.”

“Daddy…” Pidge begun crying once again and attempted to get down in order to find her father.

“Hey, calm down, Pidge. Daddy will be here soon. Let’s wait for him together.” the man offered desperately. The baby sobbed a last time and finally took her paci. She put it in her mouth and Keith took this as a sign of agreement to his proposition.

Pidge looked like she’ll start the tear waterfall again any moment so Keith put a plan in action.

“You are waiting for a nice song, right?” the toddler didn’t say anything, just took a deep breath through her stuffed nose and leaned against Keith fully. “I don’t know any good songs, though… but I guess I can tell you a story if you want?” Keith sounded so insecure to his own ears. _‘ I’ll just tell a story to a kid, no big deal. Hunk likes it when I read to him…’_

The little girl looked up at him with her watery, innocent, trusting eyes; tear tracks fresh on her smooth skin and green paci in her mouth. Honestly, at that moment Keith thought that even if she asked of him to sing and dance to one of the annoying kid show’s song, he would do it, because there was no way he could say ‘no’ to that face.

So he cleaned up her from all the crying and then got comfortable lying in the middle of the bed. He put Pidge on his chest and covered her with her soft blanket.

“You ok in there?” he asked. The only answer he got was a tug at his hair.

“Good. Ok, so a story… Oh, I guess you’ll like this one. It’s about Shiro. He was sixteen and he had just met Allura. He wouldn’t stop talking about her, but he was afraid to ask her out. The whole high school knew about his crush, even Allura!” Keith smiled at the memory and continued “There was this winter dance thing and apparently Allura had gotten tired of waiting for him so she asked him out instead. When he got home that day he cried. I laughed. Shiro then panicked because…”

Half an hour later, when Lance finally emerged from his bath he found Keith and Pidge in the same position – Pidge on top of Keith completely, both of them asleep, Keith’s right hand being over her blanked back, while his left one was by his head.

Lance bit his lips and took a photo of the sweet moment.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hello, sir.”

The sudden appearance of the deep voice made Keith jump in surprise. The man turned his head and tilted it slightly upwards so he could look at the teenager properly.

“Hello Zack.”

The teen only nodded, not saying anything else but also not moving away. Keith returned to choosing tomatoes and putting them in a plastic bag so he could weight them.

“Can Dak sleep over tonight?”

Keith’s hand froze midair. “Uuuhm?”

“I would like to invite Dak to stay over at my house tonight. We’re going to marathon some movies. If it’s ok with you, of course.”

“Are you sure Dak is not threatening you into this relationship?” Keith wondered out loud.

“What?” Zack said confused, scrunching up his forehead.

“Nothing, nothing. Let me talk with… my son and Lance. Wait here.” Keith pushed the bag with the tomatoes in the teen’s arms and walked away in search of Lance.

Lance was by the aisle with the cereals. Hunk was sitting in one of these car-carts. Pidge was in the back, in the special basket for children. She was singing something in her own language, tapping her daddy’s hand in tune. One of Lance’s hands was on the handle of the cart, while his other one was on his chin, scratching in lightly. He looked lost in thought, eyes glued to the different cereal boxes.

Keith ran to him and shook his whole body effectively winning his boyfriend’s attention. He lost no time in recalling the encounter to Lance, who in return boomed out a laugh.

“Oh, I can’t believe it! He is basically asking for permission to fu-, uh, I mean to ‘F’ him. Dak’ll be so embarrassed!”

“He only said they were going to watch a movie.” Keith said. Lance rolled his eyes and mindlessly picked a random box from the shelves, and put it in the cart behind Pidge.

“Seriously Keith? Was he supposed to say it more bluntly? I want to stick my D in your son’s A?”    

Keith huffed in irritation and smacked Lance on the back of his head. Afterwards, he pushed the father out of the way and pushed the cart forward. Lance’s “Hey!” was mostly muffed by Hunk’s excited car noises and Pidge’s song.

“So you left him there, with our tomatoes, huh?” Lance questioned, walking next to Keith.

“Yes, I told him I’ll talk to Dak. Call him.” Keith ordered and stopped to bend down so he could take a bottle of vinegar from the bottom shelf.

Lance nodded and after a playful slap on Keith’s ass, he took out his phone and called Dak.

The teen picked up after the first signal and Lance didn’t even wait for a greeting “You boyfriend asked Keith if you are free tonight for some Netflix and Chill.”

Probably even Hunk heard the loud “WHAT?!” that came from the other side of the line.

Keith took the phone from Lance and explained in short. More loud sentences and a few curses followed.

Shortly, Keith found himself back by the vegetables. Zack was standing right where he had left him, only the small plastic bag with tomatoes now had a white sticker with barcode and price.

Keith nodded gratefully as he accepted back his bag.

“No problem, sir.”

“Uh, so I spoke with Dak, he is up for it.”

Keith was taken back by the big smile on the big teen’s face.

“You are a very good father, sir. I admire how you care about your child’s opinion.”

 “Uuuuh, yeah… uh, thank you?”

 

* * *

  

“Aaah, we are so lucky to catch this place empty.” Lance beamed while pushing Pidge’s stroller towards the deck chairs they have just paid for. Keith, who was holding Hunk’s hand, raised an eyebrow at Lance’s statement, because the place was anything but empty. As it was pretty much the middle of summer vacation, it was full with teenagers and younger kids.

The sheer volume of their yells, made Keith want to turn around and go home, however, seeing Lance take off his shirt changed his desires. Staying wasn’t so bad.

Thy settled, bathed the kids in sunscreen and went over the ‘Lance-safety-rules’ on last time, before they entered one of the pools. Pidge was on Keith’s back with her legs around his waist, her hands squeezing his head as good as possible with her floaties on.

Hunk had a swimming ring and was swimming small circles around the two men.

Lance was on his knees, keeping only his head above water.

“You look like you’re going to fall asleep any moment. How late did you stay up for that translation?” Keith inquired.

“I came to bed around three in the morning… but the stupid thing is done in term with the contract. I’m free now.” Lance declared and straightened his legs, floating with his whole body.

“So you didn’t sleep much, right dad?” Hunk asked from his place by his father’s head and in front of Keith.

“No. Dad had some work to do.” Lance explained and then splashed Keith in the face, replacing his tired expression with mischievous one.

Keith glared and returned a splash which only contributed to Lance’s growing amusement. Lance leaned back in the water again, intend to kick a stronger stream of water towards his boyfriend, but something stopped him. Hunk put his hands on his dad’s head and looked directly in his eyes. His son was smiling but Lance could easily decipher the slight hint of worry on his face. So, as the good dad he was, he put playing with his boyfriend aside for now and let his body float again in the water so he could maintain contact with Hunk.

“Are you sleepy, dad?” Hunk spoke.

“Not that much right now, but maybe I’ll have a nap later. So don’t worry about it, Hunk. Have fun, dad can take care of himself.” the father stated and gave a reassuring grin.

“I can take care of dad too.” Hunk begun “You need to sleep, so now you’re gonna sleep forever.” That said, the boy pushed Lance’s head underwater.

 

********

 

“He almost literally took care of me, Keith!” exclaimed Lance emotionally. The two adults were sitting on the edge of the pool, their feet in the water. Lance was holding onto Pidge as she giggled away in the pool, swinging her legs under the water and splashing her dad from time to time. “Oh my god, Keith, he was smiling! It was so creepy”

Keith sighed and squeezed Lance’s shoulder once. “He thought he was helping you.”

“By sending me to ‘sleep forever’? My poor baby, Keith, my cute, innocent son.”

“He’s not so innocent, obviously.” Keith muttered under his breath, casting an eye towards the playing children where Hunk was laughing joyfully, completely unaware of his father’s emotional turmoil.

“What did you say?” demanded Lance.

“That he loves you. He loves you so much. This morning he was telling me how you are the best at playing robots and pretend. Also he loves your pancakes better, even though you burn most of them. The boy loves you unconditionally.” Keith’s reasoning helped and Lance notably relaxed.

“Yeah… he is so cute. I love him too, Keith!” Lance yelled. He sounded on the verge of tears. 

“I know you do. No need to yell! Wait, were you about to cry?”

“No!” denied Lance while sniffing loudly. He picked up Pidge and after a kiss and a cuddle, passed her to Keith.

Keith took the toddler in his hold and stood up along with Lance. “Where are you going?”

“To hug Hunk! He needs his dad’s soft and love filled hugs.”

“What?! Come back here, Lance! Leave him to play, you’ll embarrass him in front of his friends! We are in public, Lance!” Keith tried to stop him, but Lance’s determination was stronger.

“He nearly killed me in public! I need to hug my baby!”

“Stop exaggerating!” Keith shouted but went unheard. Pidge was laughing, finding this the funniest thing ever, while the other people around them stared wide eyed. Keith notices how after this conversation the others always left more space between themselves and the family.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2017 is only some hours away and I'm so happy I managed to get this chapter done :D  
> So, where I am from we have this... tradition? I guess, so we make wishes for the new year to other people and I want to wish you all a better year, filled with happiness, luck, health and love. Have a great New year's eve, guys :) 
> 
> Also, I have tumblr and I am very determined to start using it for more than just liking posts :D If you are interested, want to say hello or just need to speak with someone, no matter about what - nekonevi.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)


	16. Meme

“Your game is stupid!”

“Yeah! It’s for babies!”

“H-Hey! It’s not!” Hunk wished he could sound braver while defending the game he wanted to play. The two boys in front of him were older – already in the first grade and Hunk thought it would be so cool to play with them. At first they played a short game of tag and then Hunk offered they play Defender Robots. For the six-year-old this was the best game ever. Even Mr. Shiro had played it with him.

But the other kids didn’t like the idea so much. Not long after declining in a very childishly rude way, they tried to snatch the robot toy from Hunk’s hold.

Of course, this somehow escalated in a taunting match about whose game was the worst. Hunk was getting distressed very fast because _how dare they try to take his toy_. 

The boy looked around, eyes getting teary. He saw Keith and Dad on a bench nearby. They were looking at something in the distance, speaking to each other, heads really close together. Pidge’s stroller was parked next to them and Voltron was fighting a tree for a stick behind them.

His sister was a few steps away from him, sitting in the sand, throwing sand around her with her plastic green paddle.

No one had heard the growing dispute of the boys. And the older kids were taking full advantage of the fact. While Hunk was distracted, one of the boys pushed him to the ground and took his robot.

Hunk gasped in surprise and landed on his butt in the sand next to Pidge. The two bullies laughed at him, resulting in more tears in his eyes.

“Hunk?” Pidge said, looking at her brother. The boy in question didn’t say anything.

“Stay there and play with the babies, you crybaby!” shouted bully A. He then waved the stolen toy tauntingly in the air.

Hunk sniffed and looked back towards his dad. This didn’t go unnoticed and one of the other boys sneered at him.

“So you are a crybaby and a tattletale! You gonna cry to daddy now? Your toy is gone, your game is stupid!”

All of a sudden Hunk stopped crying. He sniffled a few times and straightened his back.

“I don’t need to call my dad. I have something better!” Hunk declared smugly, tear marks still wet on his face. “Pidge, come here.”

Pidge, having sensed that her brother was sad and unhappy, did as she was told, crawling to him.

“Hahaha, what? Do you think a baby can protect you?”

Dad had once told him: ‘Fists won’t get you far, use your brain.’ Hunk smirked and huffed, almost evilly. “I don’t need Pidge as a shield, she’ll be my weapon.”

At this statement the two older boys shared a confused look.

“She can’t beat us! We are bigger!”

“She can win!” Hunk stated. “Pidge, cry.”

A short moment of silence followed and the boys were sure they had won. But then, out of nowhere, the toddler’s eyes started tearing up, her bottom lip started trembling and she started making quiet noises.

Suddenly, she was full out bawling her eyes out, her noises not quiet at all, fat tears streaming down her cheeks. She was sitting in the sand again, head thrown back.

In mere seconds Lance was picking up his crying daughter, soothing her. All the while the two bullies stared wide eyed at the scene.

“What happened, Hunk? Why is she crying?” Lance asked his son with concern clear in his voice.

Hunk, bowled his head and looked at the two boys with a big content smirk. Very fast he turned his expression upside down and tilted his head to address his dad.

“We were just playing and then they came and took the robot from Pidge and destroyed her sand-thing and they called me a crybaby and then one of them pushed me and then she started crying and then you are here now.” Hunk explained, as good as a six-years-old could. It wasn’t his fault if some of the facts weren’t exactly accurate.

Lance had practice in these things and was able to follow the main flow of thoughts. He got the key information and it was that somebody, two snotty brats, had messed with his babies. _‘Hell no.’_

By now the parents of the other children were at the scene of the crime. Keith was there too. The black haired man sensed where things were going and he took a now calm Pidge and beckoned Hunk to come with him.

As he took Keith’s hand, Hunk wondered if he should have called Keith the superhero instead of dad. But when he looked over his shoulder at the two boys, now looking down guiltily, getting scolded by both their parents and his awesome dad, Hunk was sure he had done the right thing.

He shared a last triumphant look with the other boys, doing his best to tell them without words _‘You just got beaten by a baby, ha!’_  

He wasn’t sure if they got it so he stuck out his tongue for good measure.

 

* * *

 

Lance and Keith were in a sort of a scrubbing competition. Keith had found a way to motivate Lance to clean. Of course it all came to who was better, faster and who’ll get the prize.

Said prize was very _pleasant_ and had everything to do with activities done in the naked, but honestly, Keith wasn’t complaining. If sex got the job done, so be it. That way both males were overly enthusiastic to win. And the bathtub was getting cleaner fast.

Pidge was on her hands and knees, in the middle of the bathroom’s tile floor, playing with the rubber bath toys and a basin with water. That way the toddler was having fun while being supervised. And she wasn’t drawing on the walls.

“Daaaaad!” came Hunk’s yell as the boy ran into the bathroom. “Your phone is ringing.”

Lance looked up at his son. “Who is it?”

“It’s Mr. Shiro’s picture!”

“Pick up.” Lance said and resumed scrubbing.

“Hello Mr. Shiro! Yes dad is here.”

“Hunk, ask him what he wants.” Keith spoke, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Keith asks what you want. Ok.” Hunk nodded listening to what was being said on the other side. “He said you don’t hear your phone, Keith.”

Keith sighed. His phone was probably somewhere in the bedroom.

“He wants to speak with you.” Hunk delivered moving to stand between Keith and Lance.

Both adults lifted their hands, one wet and soapy with cleaning detergent and the other holding a sponge.

“Tell him I can’t right now, I’m doing something with your dad.” Keith instructed.

“Keith can’t speak now, he is doing dad.”

“Hunk! Shiro, I can hear you laughing! It’s not funny!” shouted Keith already looking for a rag to clean at least one hand so he could take his phone.

 

* * *

 

“I still don’t get this. It’s a picture of a frog drinking tea, with text on it.” said Keith as he scrolled through a website Lance had opened for him.

Apparently, Keith lacked serious internet education. Lance was scandalized. He went on a ten minute rant about memes and things like grumpy cat, trolls, a cat playing the piano and a lot of cat in general. The internet loves cats it seems. Keith pretended to listen, nodding here and there. Somehow the lecture continued later, while the two of them were on the couch, Keith pressed in one end of it with Lance lying down, head in Keith’s lap.

“It’s a meme, Keith. It’s relatable somehow… Look” Lance started and took Keith’s phone, going through the memes. His finger stopped at one and he showed it to Keith “Socially awkward penguin, this is relatable to you.”

Keith glared and snatched his phone “I don’t relate to a penguin.”

“It’s the text he comes with!” Lance exclaimed and attempted to bury his head in Keith’s stomach.

Keith put a hand in Lance’s hair, trailing his fingers through it while reading out loud from the screen “Has an imaginary argument with boyfriend in head/ says the perfect comeback out loud and looks insane. Lance! I don’t get it. Wait, what the hell, Lance!”

Lance laughed in Keith’s shirt “See! You did just that yesterday! I was brushing my teeth while you showered and you yelled at me randomly ‘Well, at least I try.’ Having fights with me in your head is better than real life fights, I guess, but- OW!” Lance’s happy explanation was cut short by a strong and painful tug at his hair.

“Keith! You can let go now!” pleaded Lance fisting one hand in Keith’s shirt, the other one trying to move Keith’s painful hold.

“Ok, sorry, I won’t laugh at you again, Keith!” his hair was released and Lance sighed, rubbing his head. Both he and Keith knew that this promise was as solid as the air around them. Lance would be laughing and teasing at the first opportunity he gets.

Lance hummed contently and got comfortable again, closing his eyes. Keith continued his research, doing his best to find a point in all of these images. Shortly, the patter of feet indicted the arrival of someone.

“Dad?”

“Hm?”

“Can you move, please?” at the strange request from his son, Lance cracked an eye open.

“Why?”

“I need you to sit up, please.” Hunk said, looking sweetly at his father.

Lance sat up slowly, confused.

“Thank you. Now move a little to the side.”

Even more confused, Lance carried out Hunk’s request. He was now sitting some distance away from Keith, who never removed his gaze from his phone.

“Thank you, dad. You are the best!” Hunk declared and got on the couch, cuddling up to Keith, embracing the man with both hands.

Lance gawked in disbelief. “Hunk! Did you just- Did you just steal my boyfriend?”

“You were taking all of him! It’s my turn now! We’re watching Galactic Robots!”

“He is my boyfriend, though!” Lance answered in a childish manner. He was happy his kids were getting on so well with Keith, but honestly, he was so comfortable a minute ago…

“Nuh-uh! He is mine too!” Hunk protested with a pout, squeezing Keith harder.

“Keith! Do something!”

“Today is the last episode of the season, Lance. The Robo-forces will probably engage in opening a portal to reach the Galactic-ship.” Keith spoke, throwing Lance a glance before returning to his phone. His free hand was patting Hunk on the back.

“Unbelievable! What utter betrayal!” shouted Lance and jumped from the couch. “Thank god I have my small dinosaur!”

Pidge, who was on the floor surrounded by plushies, suddenly found herself in her dad’s arms. Her cry of protest for interrupting her play was replaced very fast by giggles and squeals of joy.

Lance tickled her and gave her a lot of noisy kisses. Pidge returned some of them.

“See! At least she loves me!”

“Pidge ‘ove daddy!” Pidge said, hugging her father. As she put her head on Lance’s shoulder she spotted Keith and her brother. If Hunk got huggies, so should she!

“Kit! Pidge Kit! Daddy, Kit!” the toddler starter wiggling in attempt to get down.

“No! Stay with daddy, Pidge!”

“Kit! Daddy, Kit!” Lance saw how his daughter was getting frustrated and sighed. He didn’t want to make her cry over something like this so he gave her to Keith.

Keith sat her on his lap, circling her with one arm. He rested his other arm on her head gently and unlocked his phone again. There were a few minutes before the show started. Hunk was still snuggling up to Keith, watching the colorful commercials on TV with full attention.

Lance pouted. “Well, whatever, I have my dog. Voltron, come here!”

The dog didn’t awake and stayed immobile as a stone in his corner of the room.

Lance pursed his lips and crossed his arms. Keith looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then returned to the memes on his screen.

“Dak!” Lance shouted, an idea forming in his head.

“What?” Dak yelled back from the kitchen. He was waiting for Zack to pick him up. They were going to the cinema and to Dak’s annoyance, Zack was insisting on picking him up from _home_. Something about a proper date.

“Come here!”

The teenager walked over to Lance.

“Sit there!”

“Why?”

“Come on, sit.”

“You are so weird.” Dak commented but did sit on the other end of the couch.

Lance nodded in approval and sat next to the boy, hugging him strongly. For a second Dak’s eyes looked like they could fly out of his head from surprise. Then the teen growled and tried to remove the man.

“What the! Get off me! What are you doing?”

“Getting some deserved cuddles, thank you very much!”

“Oi, let me go!”

“Ow, you are bony. Stop moving, your bones are hurting me!”

“Don’t squeeze me so hard! Get off me, man! Keith, do something!” Dak exclaimed in irritation, battling unsuccessfully Lance’s embrace.

“Shhh! Dad, Dak, the episode is starting!” Hunk scolded, making the commotion stop. Nobody dared interrupt the show. Hunk’s wrath was better left alone.

That’s how the whole twenty five minutes of the episode passed – with a lovely pile of Keith, Pidge and Hunk on one end of the couch and a trapped Dak on the other end. Lance was lazily laying on the teen, his head resting on the couch’s soft arm rest, his body in Dak’s lap. He was doing it only because he knew it was very annoying to the boy.

Dak, under Lance’s weight, managed to take out his phone to send a series of desperate texts.

_‘Hurry up! Lance is being all lovely and weird and dad is not helping.’_

_‘Srsly Zack, they are making me watch Hunk’s animations that dad likes’_

_'Zack, where are you, it’s been fifteen minutes'_

_‘I hate you’_

_‘Lance fell asleep on me, pls, save me’_

_‘he drools’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)  
> Also thank you for the nice wishes last time!
> 
> Aaaah, kinda late? Even though I don't have a set schedule... Ok, so, exams were happening, are happening and will happen. Most of them passed, so only a shitload of homework and two exams left. I think I'll have more time to write next week so let's hope for the best :D Also winter has been a bitch, I am not sure if I remember how things look like without the ice and snow. 
> 
> After some studying and a few serious winter situations, I decided that a dose of the fluff drug was needed, so here we go. Some smart Hunk, some cuddles, teen Dak being teen, and Keith doing Lance. I really wanted to post this before season 2 for no apparent reason at all :D
> 
> PS: Zack being late because he wants to leave Dak with his family for some love-snuggle time. 
> 
> nekonevi.tumblr.com
> 
> Have a nice week! :)


	17. Front flip

“Hey Keith, look how fast I am.”

Before Keith could react properly, a yellow bike passed him, definitely not very fast at all, especially with the pair of training wheels.

Keith smiled and gave Hunk a thumb up, making the boy laugh happily. 

“I can’t believe you don’t know how to ride a bike, Keith.” at the teasing remark from Lance, Keith’s smile disappeared and the man glared at his boyfriend.

“Well, I just never got to it! Stop making this such a big deal and let’s see if you really are a good teacher.” Keith said irritably.

Yesterday, Hunk showed a strong eagerness to learn how to ride his bike. The bike that had been acting as a hook for clothes for the past months. Keith had admitted offhand that he didn’t know how to ride a bike and Lance, after a rather aggressive reaction, decided to teach him.

Seeing as Lance didn’t have a bicycle, they took Dak’s. The teen wasn’t very happy to give it at first, but five minutes of Lance’s nagging about sons, the black bike was theirs for the day.

Hunk was the first one to get a lesson. The boy didn’t need a lot of demonstration, his training wheels creating the conditions for a safe ride. Now he was riding all around the place, beaming with joy.

Pidge was on a wooden balance bike, happy as she could be. She did her best to catch up with her brother or to circle around her dad and Keith.

Like Hunk, she had a helmet on her head. However, hers seemed to have more purpose because she took great interest in her front wheel and her head was constantly bent forward, over the handles. Going left and right with her eyes stuck downwards led to a number of bumping in trees, people, strollers and the occasional dog.

After taking an unhealthy amount of pictures and videos of his kids, Lance turned his attention to Keith.

“Ok, get on.” he instructed and patted the bike.

Keith eyed the bicycle and then addressed Lance “Won’t you give me instructions? This thing has no support wheels! What about a helmet?”

“Just get on. If you are too helpless I will put Hunk’s training wheels on.” Lance said amused and balanced the bike while Keith mounted it.

“This is not a good idea. What if I break my neck?”

Lance snorted and patted Keith on the back. “I won’t let you break your neck. Pidge! Lift your head and watch where you’re going! Now, Keith, I’ll support you, you just pedal.”

Keith nodded and kicked his feet off the ground, leaving the balance of the bike entirely to Lance. Lance started slowly guiding Keith, giving small tips all the while.

“Great, see, it’s not that hard.” grinned Lance.

“It’s not.” Keith agreed. He was getting pretty confident in his pedaling skills. In his concentrated state, he didn’t notice when Lance had let go of him. The young father was making a video on his phone.

“You are already doing it alone! I’m so proud, man!” Perhaps that wasn’t the best thing Lance could have yelled. When he heard him, Keith panicked and looked back, immediately swaying the bike.

“Look forward, look forward! Don’t stop pedaling!” Lance was waving his hands around, already running to catch up with his boyfriend.

“Why did you let me go?!” Keith demanded before he swayed completely out of control, falling to the ground.

Keith bit the inside of his cheek in order to stop the curse that wanted to leave his mouth. His left knee had it the worst. It had scrapped hard against the cement walkway of the park. It stung and Keith could feel the blood. He sighed deeply in irritation.

“Lance! I told you not to-WHAT THE-?”

Someone from behind him took a hold of Keith and hoisted him up. It was not Lance. Lance was staring wide eyed with an open mouth in shock.

“Sir, let me help you.” Zack’s deep voice was a surprise for Keith. The tall boy was holding Keith under his armpits, letting his legs dangle off the ground.

“Let me go.” Keith demanded in a calm tone.

“That knee looks like it needs help. Don’t worry, sir, I know how to react in these situations.” Zack stated and started moving towards an empty bench.

“Zack, there is no need for that, really.” Keith insisted, not as calmly as before. He kicked his legs around and jumped out of the teen’s hold. Keith walked to the bench and sat down, bending to inspect his wound.

“Don’t worry Zack, I’ll take care of that damsel in distress and I’ll kiss the wounds. Thoroughly.” Lance laughed and patted Zack on the back.

“That’s so embarrassing and lame!” Dak yelled from Zack’s side. “I told you not to let them see us, Zack! Look how disgusting they are!” complained the boy, openly pointing to where Lance was kneeling in front of Keith. He had Keith’s hurt leg in one hand, kissing it everywhere without blood.

Keith was swatting Lance away, but wasn’t putting much effort in it, biting his lips to hide a smile.

Zack shrugged and put a hand around Dak’s shoulders “I wanted to help your father. And they aren’t disgusting. You don’t think it’s disgusting when I kiss you, right?”

Dak blushed and looked at the ground. “D-D-Don’t say it like that!”

Lance heard the exchange and was ready with a response to tease Dak about his sudden shyness.

However, as he was still holding Keith’s leg, one of his fingers touched the wound. In result Keith kicked out his leg, more out of involuntary reflex. His shoe met Lance’s forehead, the slight force of the kick making Lance sit on the ground.

“Ha-ha-ha Dak! What made you so-Ooow!” Lance whined and rubbed the reddening spot on his forehead.

Hunk came to stop next to his dad. “What are you doing dad?” asked the boy curiously. Then his eyes landed on the blood on Keith’s leg and he got down from his bike. “Whoaaaa! Keith, that’s such a cool wound! Does it hurt a lot? Can you feel your bone?”

“My bone is safe under my skin.”

Pidge was now with them too. She was crouching next to Keith’s knee, watching it carefully.

“Kit owie?”

Keith nodded and sighed and reached to take out the pack with wet wipes that Lance carries around. The man was so obsessed with it that at times he would forget his wallet, but never the massive packet of baby wet wipes. The stroller was right next to the bench so Keith had to only extend his hand a little bit.

The split second he turned his head away was what Pidge needed to smack her hand against the bloody wound.

Not expecting the contact and the sting, Keith gasped and his leg kicked out a second time. Again his shoe met Lance’s forehead and the other man yelped, and went back on his ass in the dust.

“See what I mean?!” Dak said to Zack and tugged at his hand. “Let’s go. We’ll miss the movie.”

Zack allowed himself to be guided away. “Are you sure they’ll be ok? Your dad just kicked Lance twice in the head?”

Dak snorted and threw a last glance over his shoulder at the two men. “Nah, they are fine. The only thing that’s not ok is Lance’s pride. Do you know that’s how they met? A hit on the head! How lame…” 

 

***

 

Pidge was ‘riding’ contently on her bike. She saw her daddy who was helping her Kit to get on a big bike. Kit was holding his phone and was speaking to it. Pidge laughed and headed to them fast.

As she was going, the front wheel of her bike was turning round and round. It was so quick! Pidge bended forward to look at it more closely. All day she had been observing it. It was so interesting! It turned again and again, and again.

But as she was looking at the funny wheel, suddenly her feet couldn’t reach the ground and her head went even further frontwards. Pidge let go of the handles of her bike and everything in her eyes turned over.

Before she knew it, she was on her back, on the ground and her bike was on top of her. It happened so fast! It was so scary! Pidge felt like some places on her body were feeling funny. She had an owie and she wanted her daddy. Pidge cried.

 

***

 

Keith just finished talking with his brother. Shiro and Allura had something to tell them and so they’ll come for a dinner tomorrow. Lance was next to him, keeping the bicycle stable.

“Ah! Look at small Pidge!” exclaimed Lance and waved at his daughter. Pidge was on her way to them, pushing with her legs fast. She beamed at them and then looked downwards.

Lance was about to remind her to keep her eyes on the road, when the small wooden bike overturned along with Pidge.

The toddler wailed loudly, not moving, not even to push the bike away from her. Lance and Keith both ran to the child.

“Pidge! It’s ok, daddy is here.” Lance soothed and fell next to her. Keith picked up the balance bike and Lance took Pidge. He made a fast inspection and didn’t notice any blood. Then he patted her gently in different places and when she didn’t change her crying, Lance figured out nothing was broken.

“Oh, Pidge. Calm down, baby. Shhhh.” Lance stood up and followed Keith to their bench. Pidge was still crying, but not as vocal as before. She was making quiet meowing noises with her head burrowed in her daddy’s chest. Lance moved her slightly so Keith could remove the helmet from her head and after that was done, he cradled her anew.

“Shhh, little dino. You got scared, huh. It’s over now. Shhh.”

After five minutes of soothing and gentle rubbing of her back, the toddler was asleep in Lance’s hold.

“She tired herself out.” Keith commented and pulled the stroller in front of them.

Lance nodded. “She just front flipped herself off her bike. Man, some people try to learn to do this trick for years.” he laughed gently. At first his heart had went in his throat. Seeing your baby fly and land like that… more nightmares for him. However, after he made sure she was not injured and only scared, he found it sort of amusing. It would be a good story to tell when she grew up.

“Well, they do learn how to land safely.” Keith added.

“She’ll grasp the details at some point. Hopefully when she is like twenty. Perhaps never. I almost had a heart attack.” snorted Lance and laid Pidge in the stroller. He stroked her hair and then pulled the canopy, hiding her away from the sun.

 

* * *

 

Keith was trying to sleep soundly. He would just succumb to sleep and Lance would type something on his keyboard. Usually, when the man had to finish a project for work, he would stay in the living room. But tonight he was in bed, with his laptop, with his typing and his occasional mumbling under his nose.

‘I’m not gonna sleep soon like this.’ thought Keith irritably and opened his eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked sleepily.

Lance didn’t look up from his screen as he answered. “I’m researching universities in China.”

For a long silent minute, Keith just stared at Lance, eyes half squinted, mind half asleep. When he finally caught up on what he was told, Keith propped himself up on one elbow and peeked in the computer.

Indeed, a webpage in Chinese was opened, the picture showing a big building.

“…Why?”

“Because… what if Hunk or Pidge want to study there after high school?” replied Lance as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“Lance, are you ok? Did you have a nightmare again?”

“I’m fine! Just… they’ll grow up and I want to be prepared!”

Keith didn’t say anything. He leaned on Lance’s shoulder and continued to observe his boyfriend’s research. Lance was using google translate, was bookmarking pages and was reading different forums with opinions.

“Why China though?” Keith inquired.

“Hunk will start first grade this year. I just blinked and he went from a poopy baby to a first grader. On my next blink he’ll be in university.” Lance explained in even tone, almost whispering, minding the sleeping child in the crib next to them. “Whatever my children decide for their future I’ll support them. If they want China, so be it.” finished the father.

He entered a website that was a highly popular place for mothers to exchange advice, doctor numbers, recipes and to gossip. He started a new topic and typed its name ‘How to cope with depression when your children study abroad’

 _‘One of your children still sleeps in diapers and the other one can’t write yet’_ Keith wanted to say, but only pursed his lips.

“Won’t you feel sad?” Lance asked, turning to look at Keith.

“Huh?”

“When they go away?”

“Of course I will feel sad!” Keith exclaimed. “That’s just not happening in the future decade or two… You don’t even know Chinese… Pidge can’t even speak English properly yet.”

“Oh my god, Keith. You’re right!” whisper-yelled Lance and deleted the title of the topic. He changed it to ‘Good Chinese language teachers in the region’

Before he could publish it, Keith pushed the laptop closed.

“Heey!”

“I’ll be taking this” Keith said and put the computer on his nightstand. “Go to sleep. Now.”

“Ok, ok, geez. I’m gonna pee and I’ll be back.”

Keith snuggled close in his pillow, already on his way to dreamland when he felt Lance returning back in the room. The mattress declined a little and a warm body lay next to Keith. A body far too small.

The black-haired-man snapped his eyes open and saw Hunk curled up between him and where Lance usually sleeps.

“What are you doing?” whispered Keith and covered the boy next to him with the blanket properly.

Lance, who was bent over the railing of the crib answered just as quietly “I want to feel my babies tonight!”

“You’ll wake them up! Leave the kids to sleep.”

“Shhhh, Keith. You’ll wake them up.”

Keith glared at Lance as the man sat on the edge of the bed, lowering a sleeping Pidge on their pillows. He placed the toddler so she was over Hunk; her head was on Lance’s pillow while her behind was on Keith’s pillow. Two tiny socked feet greeted Keith in the face and he moved them gently so they were in his hair instead.

“Dad?” Hunk woke up just as Lance got under the covers. “Are we having a sleepover?”

At first the boy was barely awake, but then, the idea of a sleepover made him open his eyes wide.

“Yeah, the four of us are having a sleep party tonight. Now shh, Pidge is sleeping. Go back to sleep.”

“But I don’t wanna sleep! It’s a party, dad!” Hunk’s voice was a little bit too loud and Pidge shifted in her sleep. The binky in her mouth moved a few times and then she settled again.

“Hey Hunk, come keep me company. Your dad will tell us a fairytale.” Keith offered and hugged the boy to him. Hunk’s eyes shone in anticipation for the tale as he snuggled in Keith’s embrace.

“Yup, let’s see… _Once upon a time there was a lonely peasant. He lived his life in complete darkness, utterly cold and alone._ ” Keith hadn’t heard this one, but then again, Lance liked to improvise a lot.

Lance’s quiet but even voice lulled Hunk back to sleep. The boy was still hugged to Keith, but he was holding on one of Lance’s hands as he usually held his plushies. Lance didn’t stop speaking. He could feel Pidge’s soft breathing in his hair, he could feel Hunk’s warmth and he could see Keith’s soothing gaze.

Keith was listening quietly to the story. He was looking at his boyfriend over Hunk’s head. Lance spoke with deep emotion, even though he had only one listener. A listener who had outgrown fairytales a long time ago. As he told certain moments of his tale, he would run a hand through Hunk’s hair or caress Pidge on the cheek. When he got towards the ending, he reached for Keith and took his hand.

Lance closed his eyes but didn’t stop narrating until the very end of his fairytale. With sleepy voice and content smile he concluded

_“…His lonely, cold and dark life was now nothing but a fading memory. The peasant was now no longer poor. He was rich in his soul and rich in his heart. Love had different forms, but all of them carried the same wealth - happiness._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)  
> Thank you for the good luck for my exams, two more to go :D
> 
> Yeah, I actually wrote a short faitytale... why not, why not... everything is possible as long as it's not studying. You can read the whole fairytale [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9631358) . There is some information about Pidge's mom, so, if you are interested :D 
> 
> Sorry for the delay. I was too busy procrastinating instead of studying. :D I started this chapter in a very different direction. I was feeling very down and as a result I wrote a thing that was so angsty... ugh. Now, I love angst, but at the time I couldn't even finish what I started typing so I left it half-done and gave myself some time to put together my thoughts. Someday I may finish it and post it as a one-shot in the newly formed series :D 
> 
> Next time we'll see uncle Shito, also i just noticed there is no Voltron in this chapter, but I don't want to delay it anymore so let's pretend he was playing happily in the park while Keith was bleeding and Pidge was front flipping. 
> 
> nekonevi.tumblr.com
> 
> Have a nice week! :)


	18. A few drinks

“Go! Go! Go!”

Shiro grinned at the crowd around him. His eyes glazed and mind not very clear. The people in the club continued their chanting and finally Shiro answered their calls. He leaned forward and blinked bleary at Lance.

The man was lying on the high bar, his long frame taking up a lot of the limited space. His shirt was missing and his naked torso was glistening under the dimmed lights. Was it glitter or sweat – Shiro didn’t know and in his drunken state, didn’t care. Shiro returned Lance’s grin and then turned his attention to the salt on the other man’s skin.

Keith was standing to the side, holding a phone and filming everything. He too was more than drunk and hasn’t stopped smiling in the last hour. His hands were trembling or perhaps he was swaying from time to time so the video was going to be shaky.  Lance’s shirt was tied around Keith’s head.

“C’mon man!” yelled Keith at his brother while doing his best to not move the phone too much.

Shiro showed a thumb up at the camera, breathed out and licked the salt from Lance’s stomach. Immediately after, he downed his tequila shot, throwing his head back, swallowing the alcohol in one gulp. A bite in a lime slice followed and then the cheers from all the ladies around them.

Lance was giggling drunkenly as he sat up. Keith went to him and the two of them exchanged a deep kiss.

The DJ shook his head in amusement, pretty much used to such things. She turned up the volume of the music again and watched as the three men got lost among the dancing bodies.

 

* * *

 

** Earlier the same day **

 

“What’s your uncle like?” Zack inquired curiously as he waited for Dak to fish out his keys so they could enter the apartment building.

The purple haired teen paused in his search and grimaced. “He is dad’s brother, but is fucking embarrassing. Just like Lance.”

“Well, well. Is this Dak I see.”

Dak spun around so fast, he stumbled and Zack had to reach out and grab his upper arm in order to steady him.

Shiro and Allura were standing behind the two boys, Pidge’s stroller with them.

“Dak! You are wearing a blue t-shirt! And yellow socks!” exclaimed Allura happily. She left the stroller to Shiro and moved to stand directly in front of the teen. The woman put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him from head to toe. “And there are no chains hanging from you!”

Dak fixed his eyes to the ground, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing from the beautiful woman’s prize.

Zack watched amused as the shorter boy murmured something under his nose and stepped away from the woman.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Shiro asked with a smirk as he leaned on the stroller.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir. Call me Zack” Zack said and offered a hand in greeting.

Shiro and Allura blinked surprised at the tall teenager. Shiro accepted the handshake with a weird expression on his face. Allura followed, not expecting the polite greeting.

“Wow Dak! Where did you find such a good boy! Or is this your thing, like a kink or-” Shiro’s teasing was cut short by Dak’s angry yell.

“Shut up!” the teen would have gone and kicked the man had he not been leaning on Pidge’s stroller. So instead he stomped his foot on the ground and gritted his teeth at Shiro.

Dak’s shouting had startled the toddler under the canopy in the stroller. A loud cry joined the noises of the street in front of Lance’s building.

Dak scowled. Something wasn’t right. He moved the canopy back and widened his eyes.

“Where is Pidge!” the boy demanded as he stared at the crying child.

“What do you mean-” started Shiro and then closed his mouth instantly as he saw what the problem was. “It was Allura’s fault!”

“What!?” shrieked Allura in disbelief.

“You were supposed to take Pidge from the ball pit!” explained Shiro in stress-filled voice.

“Well… they have the same hats and shirts!” Allura defended herself as she pointed at the little boy that was now in Dak’s arms.

Zack bent over so he could look at the small boy in his boyfriend’s hold. The toddler was rubbing his eyes in confusion, looking around teary eyed, but not screaming anymore.

“Shut up! Both of you!” ordered Dak in the calmest tone possible as not to distress the child.

“I don’t know where you were, or why Pidge was with you, but you better go back right now, return the kid and hope nobody called the police!” the teen instructed and placed the toddler back in the stroller.

The two adults stared at him not moving.

“Go!” ordered Dak and watched as they turned around and ran back the way they had come from.

“Don’t tell Lance!” Shiro yelled over his shoulder just as they took a turn to the right and disappeared out of sight.

“Are you telling Lance?” questioned Zack.

“Of course I am! Just imagine the look on his face! See, Shiro is so… well, you saw. Allura is cool though, too bad she has to deal with his nonsense…”

 

****

 

“Oh, Dak, it’s you. I thought it was Pidge with Shiro and Allura. They took her to the play center while Keith came with me to the hairdresser for Hunk.” Lance greeted the two teenagers at the door.

“Ah, yes, we saw them. Well, not Pidge.” said Dak as he kicked off his shoes.

“What do you mean ‘not Pidge’?”

“They had some other child in the stroller.”

Lance’s breath caught in his throat and made the funniest sound in Dak’s opinion. Zack stood up from where he was arranging his and Dak’s shoes neatly next to Hunk’s small sneakers. The older teen looked concerned and almost said something regarding Lance’s fast paling face.

“Keith! Keith! My baby is gone! Your brother lost her! My Pidgey!” Lance yelled in panic. He ran in his bedroom, looking for his phone. Keith exited the bathroom, obviously in a hurry, his shorts not fully rolled up.

Hunk came out of his room. “If Mr.Shiro lost Pidge, can we take another dog?”

“See, I’m the only normal one in here.” Dak informed his boyfriend, sounding proud. A second later the two of them heard how a distressed Lance spoke on the phone with Shiro.

“How can you mistake her?! She is the cutest baby there! Give the phone to her, I want to hear her voice. Hey little Pidgeon, it’s daddy! Yeah, daddy. Your uncle Shito was bad! Yes, he was!”

 

* * *

 

“Ladies!” Lance called the attention of everyone. “I know that you are not interested in this body” as he slurred his sentence, he ran his hand down his naked torso and then clapped them in front of his face. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy art!”

He made a sign to the DJ and after the music was back on, he took a hold of the metal pole and twisted his body, grinding and twirling on the pole. Applauses accompanied the music as the women enjoyed the show. Lance was right, it wasn’t about sexuality, it was about performance value.

As Lance took his feet off the ground, twisting his body, looking very professional, Shiro nudged his brother in the ribs.

Keith was ogling the way Lance’s body was moving the pole and probably he was the only one in this place that was seeing sex. _‘I had no idea he could do that’_ thought Keith, slowly licking his lips.

Shiro whistled and clapped along with everybody. He downed another shot and went to Lance, halting the man just as he was upside down on the pole.

“Let me show you what I can do!”

Lance got down and bowed to the audience. Then he ran to Keith and the two of them started making out while Shiro took Lance’s place on the pole.

The older male wasn’t as fluid in his moves as Lance, but he was still good. In between heavy breaths, hot touches and wet kisses, Keith wondered where the fuck did his brother learn to do _that_?  

 

* * *

** Earlier the same night **

 

“We are getting married!” announced Allura, shining in happiness. She lifted her hand to show off the ring there.

After Lance and Pidge were reunited, after the lecture that Shiro and Allura had to endure, and after a quick explanation on the whole Dak-is-Keith’s-son situation (which Shiro found hilarious), everyone, including Dak and Zack, were having dinner at a restaurant. The whole reason for Shiro and Allura’s visit was them wanting to share some news. Engagement news.

“That’s amazing!” exclaimed Lance with a huge grin. Keith stood up from his place and want around the table to hug his brother and Allura.

“You deserve better, Allura.” muttered Dak. “Congrats, I guess.” finished the boy, not looking up from his plate.

Allura smiled softly and patted the teen's head in thanks.

“Congratulations on your engagement.”

“Thank you Zack. You are so nice.”

Only the two kids hadn’t really acknowledged what was happening around them. Hunk was building something, a bridge apparently, out of his fries and a few napkins. Pidge, who was seated in a high chair between her dad and brother, was inspecting Hunk’s work very closely.  

“Hunk, Shiro and Allura are getting married.” Lance addressed his son. Hunk looked up from his bridge and scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion.

“Why?” asked the boy which made the adults laugh.

“Because they love each other a lot.” Lance explained.

“I love Voltron. Can I get married to Voltron?” inquired the child curiously.

Dak snorted at the expression that came upon Lance’s face.

“Uhm, not exactly. You see-”

However, Pidge was not paying attention to anything but the ‘bridge’ on her brother’s plate. She had seen how Godzilla destroyed bridges! And that called her Godzilla sometimes. The toddler grinned and took a fistful of the mashed potatoes in front of her and threw it at Hunk’s creation.

“Pidge kill bitch!” shouted the child in delight, catching the attention of everyone in the restaurant. Her father choked on his own spit. Keith reached from Hunk’s other side and patted his boyfriend on the back.

Shiro bit his lips in order to mute his laugh, while Allura politely excused herself to the restroom.

“Your family is pretty cool.” commented Zack and cut into his steak.

 

* * *

 

“Alright!” yelled a tall redheaded woman. “Let’s see if this man here” she said and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder “can drink more in one minute, than I can.”

“Gooooo Keith! I believe in you!”

“Drink like you mean it, Keith!”

Keith nodded at Shiro and Lance and took the first glass of alcohol.

“Ready, steady, go!”

 

* * *

 

** Earlier the same night **

 

“Is this a good idea?” asked Shiro from the front seat of the taxi.

“Yes! It’s going to be like your engagement party! But dudes only.” Lance said.

“Allura is out with her girlfriends, why can’t we go out too?”

“You are right, Keith. But nothing over the top, alright? Just a few drinks.”

“Of course, man.” agreed Lance and sent a last text to Dak. Zack and Dak were on babysitting duty while all the adults were out.

“Where are we going exactly?” Shiro questioned.

“It’s a special club. I know the owner, it’s a gay bar and today it’s ladies night only. But they are letting us in.” Lance explained and poked Keith playfully in the knee.

“And why are we going there exactly…?”

“Because, dear Shiro, nobody there will be interested in you, or us, and that way, when you get drunk, you can’t do anything stupid. You have a fiancé after all.”

“Lance, what the hell.” sighed Shiro and shook his head. “I’ll never cheat on Allura.”

“I know, man! But it’ll be fun, you’ll see!”

“Just remember – a few drinks and we are going home.”

“We got it, Shiro.” Keith agreed with his brother.

“A couple of drinks and that’s it.”

 

* * *

 

“Move your hips more, Shiroooo” instructed Lance, slurring his words.

Shiro shook his hips and then jumped around, clapping his hands in his ass. 

“Hey, Lance.” Keith said directly in Lance’s ear. “Are you drunk?”

Lance laughed out loud and nodded in affirmation. “I am.”

“I’m drunk too. Let’s see who can walk on hands the furthest.”

“Got it. Shiro, you’ll be the referee.” Lance agreed on the challenge.

Shiro didn’t hear them, the music being too loud. Instead he moved to the DJ table and requested the mic. The DJ chuckled, paused the song and gave Shiro the mic.

“Drinks for everyone! I have a fiancé now!”

Shiro grinned at the answering cheers and congratulations.

A few drinks more wouldn’t hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> I am so sorry for the delay. I wasn't that well... emotionally. Nothing serious, just enough to halter my motivation. Today was the first day of spring and it was warm and sunny and suddenly I was hit with inspiration :D So here we have the drunk trio and some Dak and Zack. I won't give promises for the next chapter, but I'll do my best to post it before Monday. Fingers crossed. Sorry for any mistakes, it's very late at night, I have an early class tomorrow, who cares, I finally got the will to finish and publish this chapter. Now my head is swimming with ideas for the future chapters :D
> 
> Your comments were a big help to get me to write, just saying. You are all so nice. I felt extra disappointed in myself for making you wait so long.
> 
> Have a nice week :)


	19. Snuggles

“Come play house with me, Hunk!”

Hunk looked down at the girl standing under the slide he was on. He smiled, nodded and slid down to his friend.

“Do you want to be the father, Hunk?” asked the girl as both kids ran to a corner of the playground. She was a year older than Hunk and very tall for her age. Other kids, especially at her school, would pick on her for her height. She didn’t seem to mind that much, though. Her older brother took her to a basketball game once and after seeing how tall all the players were, she asked to learn how to play.

Now, whenever someone would make fun of her, she would just tell them all about the amazing game she loves and how she’ll become a professional because she is so tall.

“Yes! Who do you want to be, Shay?” Hunk questioned.

“I’ll be the mom! I’ll be a star! Playing in the big league and you can stay home and watch our pet while I’m gone.” Shay informed. Hunk hummed in agreement. The two kids came to a stop at the jungle gym that was unoccupied at the moment.

“This is our home.” Stated Shay and made her way up to the top.

Hunk followed her and they sat looking at the other children playing.

“And our pet?” Hunk inquired trying to think of something that could be their pet.

“Hmm…” Shay got down and made her way out of the playing area and into the trees surrounding the place. On the other side of the line of trees was a big naked space specifically for dogs.

The little girl crouched next to a bush and picked up a big rock. Hunk was waiting for her in front of their home.

“Here! This’ll be our pet!” Shay proudly thrusted the big stone in Hunk’s hold. The boy looked at it curiously and then grinned.

“Alright! Let’s think of the best name!” 

 

* * *

 

Lance, Keith and Shiro were all sitting on a bench in the park, all of them wearing dark sunglasses, all of them having the ankle of their right foot rest on their left knee. All of them quietly suffering from a hangover in the middle of a lively park full of screaming children.

“Did I really lick salt from your stomach, Lance?”

“I have it on camera.” said Keith and took out his phone, very fast putting on the video in question.

Shiro and Lance both exclaimed loudly in protest.

“It’s all your fault!” Shiro accused both Lance and Keith.

“I don’t remember you complaining! But I do remember you pole dancing…”Lance trailed off sarcastically and squinted his eyes, behind the glasses, in order to spot Hunk and Pidge across the playground.

Shiro sighed deeply, not being able to deny anything.

“Where did you even learn to do that?” Keith asked his brother.

“Do what?”

“Pole dancing!”

“Wouldn’t you like to find out…”

Keith was about to enter a full on verbal war with Shiro, however, a kid passed their bench, screaming his lungs out. The three men winced at the volume, the throbbing in their heads starting to return. Keith decided to forfeit this battle. He leaned his head on Lance’s shoulder, trying to hide his face away from the sunny world.

 

* * *

 

“Hunk! Pidge can play?” the toddler asked her brother as she sat next to him on the ground next to the jungle gym.

Hunk looked at his little sister and shook his head. “Sorry, Pidge. We already have one pet. We don’t need more.” He was petting a big round stone.

Pidge was ready to start crying because it wasn’t fair! She wanted to play too.

“Oh! She can be a present. I got her for my husband from one of my big basketball games.” Shay offered from where she was hanging upside down on one of the metal bars of the colorful construction.

Hunk thought about it and then agreed. “Yes, Pidge, you’ll be our new pet. I’m the father and Shay is the mom.” explained the boy and got up. “This” he said and picked up the big rock “is our other pet. His name is Snuggles.” Hunk extended his arms and let his sister touch Snuggles.

“Pidge likes Snuggles.” commented the little girl with a giggle as Hunk gave the stone fully to her.

“Good, he likes you too. Now you can go play with Snuggles and I’ll watch the TV series with the crying ladies, ‘cause that’s what fathers do.” Hunk stated and sat on the ground again.

Shay jumped down next to him. “And I’ll go to the shop to buy things for out new pet!”

Hunk stood up once again “I want to come too!”

Shay laughed and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

“Hunk, Pidge wee.” Pidge tugged on her brother’s arm.

The boy looked around before he put a hand on Pidge’s hat covered head. “Pets can go to the toilet on trees. Like Voltron does.”

Pidge scrunched up her nose in confusion. If her big brother was saying it, it was true. She looked down at her green dungarees and frowned. She couldn’t take them off by herself. And Hunk was already running away after Shay, with Snuggles tucked under his arm.

She breathed out through her nose in annoyance. Frustrated she decided to go to the person who always made everything better.

“Daddy!”

 

**

 

“Where did Allura go?” Lance wondered out loud. The woman had left right after breakfast. She was the one to wake them up in the morning; all three of them were sleeping on Lance’s bed. Not a very comfortable fit. Dak had taken Voltron out for the day and Allura stepped up to look after the kids.

She was certainly amused by the state of her fiancé. Not every day she had the chance to see him cuddled to his brother. She chose to not say anything about them smelling like they had taken a shower in alcohol or their red eyes. She was going to antagonize Shiro on their way back home, in the car, where he had no room for escape.

“Her uncle is coming. His plane is landing on the airport here. He’ll get a ride with us back home.”

Keith straightened his slouched shoulders when he heard Shiro’s answer.

“Coran is coming?”

“Yes.”

Before Lance could ask about this Uncle Coran, his attention was grabbed by Pidge. His daughter was running clumsily to him, looking quite distressed. She couldn’t stop herself properly and ended up against her dad’s knees.

“Pidge wee, daddy!”

“Oh, let’s go then.”

“No! Pidge is pet, pet wee on the tree.” the toddler pointed back at some trees.

Lance rubbed his head in confusion. “Come on, Pidge. Let’s hurry before you-”

“No Daddy! Pidge is pet now! Hunk said Pidge wee on tree.”

“What? Hunk!” Lance stood up and yelled. “Hunk! What are you telling your sister! She is not an animal!” the father strode towards where his son was playing.

Pidge watched her father go and then turned to Keith and Shiro. “Kit, Shito, Pidge wee.”

 

* * *

 

“Open the cave, Pidgeon.” prompted gently Lance and fed Pidge a bit from the sandwich he was holding.

Lance, Keith and Shiro were still on the same bench, still having their glasses on and still attracting attention from all the mothers in the area. Pidge was sitting on the ground in between Lance’s legs, hugging one leg with one hand, using the other hand to play with a few sticks. Lance was using the moment to get some food in her.

Keith was playing a game on Lance’s phone, trying to break his record.

Hunk was sited next to Shiro. The kid was asking all kinds of questions, about the superhero job, about the superhero hand, about a lot of things. Lance had to remind him to eat.

Shiro looked happy with the admiration from Hunk and was answering happily.

“Hunk! Hunk!” a little girl ran to them and smiled at Hunk. “I have to go now. We can’t be married anymore, sorry. Here, I’m giving Snuggles to you. Look after him.” The girl left a big stone in Hunk’s lap and after a cheerful goodbye, she was gone.

“You were married? What happened to marring Voltron? And you didn’t invite your dear dad?” Lance put his free hand on his chest in mock hurt.

Keith snorted but didn’t look up from the phone.

“It happened very fast, dad. Maybe next time.” Hunk tried to calm his father. “If I invite you to my wedding will you let us live with you? We had to cook only sand and mud now.”

Keith snorted even louder at this.

“Uh, excuse you, young sir, you are not getting married soon so don’t overthink about these things.” Lance tried to assure himself more than Hunk. His baby was not getting away from the nest yet!

“You got married fast and she left you even faster. Though, man.” Shiro said with a teasing smile.

“Well, it’s better that way. Now I can have another wedding and get more pets.”

“Wow, a player!” laughed Shiro. “And this is your pet?” asked the man as he pointed at the stone that Hunk was petting gently.

The boy nodded with a big grin on his face and lifted the rock in the air. “This is Snuggles. He is not a big pet. He can sleep in my room.”

Shiro laughed again.

“Snuggles can stay here, Hunk.”

“No, dad. He is special! Snuggles will come home with us!”

“Hunk, this is a stone, not a pet, you know that, right?”

“Snuggles is Snuggles, dad! I know we have a sister and you said we only can have Voltron, but Snuggles is so small. I’ll take care of him. Promise!”

Lance cleaned Pidge’s face from crumbs and turned towards his son. “Hunk, this is a rock. It’s not alive. It belongs here, in the park. With the other rocks.”

Hunk shook his head. “Snuggles is very calm and he doesn’t make a lot of noise, dad. You won’t even know he is home.”

Keith was having a hard time holding in his laughter. Shiro was not doing better.

“Snuggles doesn’t make any noises, because he is a rock.” Lance rubbed his forehead and gave Pidge another bite of the sandwich. The toddler was stacking her sticks, cuddled against her daddy’s leg, oblivious to the argument happening over her head.

“Please, dad!” Hunk begged and did his best sad face. “Look how cute he is! You can’t leave him alone!”

“Hunk! This is a rock!”

“Snuggles was a gift from Shay, dad! She said to take care of him.” Hunk stood up and cradled the stone like a baby. “Snuggles, this is my dad and his boyfriend Keith and Mr.Shiro is Keith’s brother.”

“Don’t introduce me to a rock.” sighed Lance.

“This is my sister Pidge. She isn’t really a pet; she was one just for the game. She is a sister and we love her.” Hunk explained to Snuggles.

Lance bit his lips and rolled his eyes. “At least you got that part. Keith! How did you beat my record! Give me the phone, I’ll show you how it’s done! No, wait, Pidge has two more bites.”

“Dad and Keith like to play games to see who wins. They also sleep together and kiss, and it’s kinda icky, but Keith is not a girl so it’s ok.”

Shiro was laughing out loud, wheezing for breath.

“Oh my god, Hunk! Don’t tell Snuggles these things!” Lance protested and just managed to get his finger away from Pidge’s mouth in time.

 

* * *

 

Lance wasn’t sure what to think about Allura’s uncle.

“Nice to meet you, Lance! Oh, Keith, you haven’t changed at all.”

Keith wasn’t able to dodge the bone crushing hug.

“Ah, Shiro, there you are! Congratulations on the engagement! Ah, young love.” Shiro, too, was attacked by a hug. “You better not disappoint my niece, boy.” whispered the older man in Shiro’s ear, making him shiver and widen his eyes. He nodded mutely.

“Oh well” Coran clapped his hands and looked around the park. “What a beautiful place! An example of well manage grounds.”

Allura smiled from next to Coran and went to kiss Shiro.

“Daaaaad!” came Hunk’s shout from a distance. The child was running in full speed towards the adults.  When he stopped, he noticed the new person and looked at him in wonder.

“You have a very cool mustache!” Hunk complimented.

“Thank you very much. And you have a… cool… rock.” Coran answered with a smile.

The boy grinned back. Pidge looked from behind her dad’s legs and observed Coran.

“Ah” exclaimed the man. “Another one! Are these the tiny Lances I heard about? One of them is really tiny.”

Lance snorted in amusement. Allura’s uncle seemed fun. Weird too. Funnily weird. With a mustache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> Ah, on time. :D I want to thank you all for the incredibly nice words and your concern :) I'm alright, whatever it was that was making me feel so down, has passed :) If I knew that writing would help me, I would have sat down and done it earlier... :D
> 
> So, we meet Coran, it seems like there is a new pet and we didn't see any Dak and Zack this time, but worry not, they'll be back soon!
> 
> Have a nice week :)


	20. Yeah, Yeah

Lance really liked mornings. Early mornings, when the kids were still sleeping, or just not awake enough to do more than cuddle, when Keith would snuggle into Lance, breathing in his hair or against his neck. When, in general, the world was still going slow.

Like right now, when Lance was barely awake, eyelids still sealed shut, brain halfway into dreamland. He felt the warm body next to him twitch a little and get even closer to him. Lance smiled and stretched an arm under the blanket and across Keith’s middle. Running his fingers against his partner’s shoulder, Lance was ready to fully fall back asleep. Only to halt the soft caresses, index and pointer finger still in contact with Keith’s skin. Or what was supposed to be Keith.

Instead of Keith’s smooth skin, Lance was feeling something… hairy. His sleepy thoughts were interrupted by a wet sensation on his face.

Lance’s eyes shot open instantly and he was met with the snout of a happy looking dog. The man immediately sat up, untangling himself from the animal. The cover slid down, exposing his naked chest to the chill morning air. Because of the sudden movement, the blanket also uncovered a part of Voltron and the dog made a whining noise rubbing his head in between the two pillows on the bed.

Keith, who was sleeping mostly undisturbed until now, grumbled something from the other side of the animal.

“What the hell are you doing here?” whispered Lance harshly to his pet. The dog in question closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

“No, get up.” demanded Lance, giving a few pushes to Voltron. The dog whined again, this time right in Keith’s ear and that woke the man.

“What?” came Keith’s disoriented sleepy voice.

Lance didn’t give an answer. He managed to get Voltron down and took him by the collar to gently lead him outside of the bedroom. He had no idea how the huge dog got on the bed, under the covers and between them, but it was a fact. The door of the bedroom was always left slightly open in case Hunk needed something and it wasn’t new to find Voltron in the room. Usually he was lazing around on the floor, particularly in front of Pidge’s crib. But on the bed? Never before.

He sighed as his bare feet moved against the cold ground. The apartment was dark, the sun yet to rise.

The trip to the big dog bed in the living room was a short one. Voltron sat in front of his bed and whined, staring at Lance with sad eyes.

Snuggles the rock was right in the middle of the soft doggy bed. And apparently the enormous animal couldn’t just push it away. He should talk with Hunk about his rock.

“What the hell, man. You can’t let the newcomer take your place.” Lance picked the stone and set it on the ground some space away from Voltron.

“There, go to sleep and be braver next time. And don’t invade the bed.” Lance instructed as he watched the dog settle comfortably. The man sighed and turned back to his room.  

He stopped by the crib, reaching inside to adjust Pidge’s blanket. After that he slid under the covers and hugged himself to Keith. The other man didn’t protest until their feet came in contact with each other.

“L-Lance, your feet are freezing, get away.” demanded Keith.

“No way! Love me and take the cold from me.”

“Ngh.” Keith gave up and accepted his fate of a heater. He turned around in Lance’s embrace and snuggled close.

“Your face smells like dog breath.” randomly said Keith. He was slightly more awake now, blinking teasingly at Lance.

“Fuck you.” answered Lance and jabbed an elbow to Keith’s ribs in a playful manner.

The two of them exchanged some slow kisses and then started to doze off again.

"Does it really?"

"..."

"Keith? Hey, Keith? Does my face really smell like dog breath?"

"Shut up, Lance and go to sleep." grunted finally Keith, smacking a hand over Lance's mouth.

 

* * *

 

“Keith, have you seen the remote control for the TV?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? I can’t find it anywhere.”

“Yes, I am sure, Lance.”

“Where was the last place you saw it?”

“Lance, I am at the gym, just look around the living room.”

“Keith! This is important! The new episode of my series is coming out today and I can’t find the remote!”

“I can’t help you from the fricking gym. Bye!”

“No, Keith, wait-”

Lance glared at his phone and threw it on the couch. He was kneeling on the ground in the living room trying to spot the lost remote.

After another ten minutes of crawling around and putting his hand in every possible place, he sighed and transferred his glare to the TV.

Suddenly he had an idea and jumped to take his discarded phone. Dak’ll save him. He was sure.

 

* * *

 

“No! Don’t touch it!”

Lance bit his lips at Hunk’s sudden yell. He could guess where this was going.

“Gimme! Pidge play too!”

Yup, a fight. Lance looked in the mirror at himself. He was wearing only a blue robe and only his underwear underneath it. Lance then bent over the sink in order to wash away the last of the cleansing gel off his face.

“No! They are my toys! Dad! Hey, no-”

“OW! DADDY!” at Pidge’s pain filled yell, Lance finally sighed and went to see why there was a fight and why there was crying. He exited the bathroom and entered Hunk’s room where the cacophony was coming from. He stood at the entrance observing the situation.

Every single dinosaur toy Hunk owned was out on the ground. There were some cars and plushies too, two planes and a Barbie doll. In the middle of everything was sitting Hunk. The boy was looking angrily at his sister, who was holing a horse toy in her hands and crying loudly.

“Give it back, I need it!” demanded the boy and took his toy from the toddler’s hold. Pidge sobbed harder.

“Pidge wanna too!” in her anger she kicked over some of the preparations that Hunk had made for his game.

“Hey! Go play with your toys!” exclaimed Hunk in distress and stood up. He pushed Pidge’s shoulders, making the girl fall to the ground. Thankfully, Lance noted, not on anything plastic and pointy.

“Daddy!” wailed Pidge, not getting up.

“Ok, what is going on here?” inquired Lance, trying to raise his voice over Pidge’s wails without actually screaming.  When the toddler spotted her father she reached out to him and continued her crying.

“She came in here and destroyed the land of the dinosaurs.” started explaining Hunk, waving his hands around in frustration.

“Pidge play too! Hunk no let Pidge play-”

“It’s my game! Go play with your baby toys-”

“Daaaaaaaddy” cried out Pidge from the ground. She kicked her legs, managing to knock down some more toys. Hunk jumped in place, making an unidentified noise in anger and then crouched to hit his sister. Which, of course, made her cry even louder.

Lance took a deep breath and crossed the room, picking up his daughter from the floor and taking Hunk’s hand.

“Ok,” said the father and took the two kids to the living room. Voltron, who was sleeping on his bed, lifted his head at their arrival. He took a look at the screeching toddler, Hunk’s angry mutterings and Lance’s unamused face and left the room in search of some quietness.

“She started it!” stated Hunk and crossed his arms as he sat on the couch.

“You know,” started Lance and sat next to Hunk after putting Pidge to sit on his other side. “It doesn’t matter who started it, because both of you continued it.”

Hunk huffed and didn’t say anything in response.

“Pidge. Pidge, stop crying, daddy will tell you something important.” gently prompted Lance, running his hand through Pidge’s hair in order to help her calm down.

He was completely positive that Hunk hadn’t hit her too hard, and she didn’t actually hurt anywhere. She was crying out of sheer frustration for not being included in some game. A game that she would have abandoned after five minutes probably. The attention span of two-year-olds wasn’t that great.

Lance used the sleeve of his bathrobe to clean her face and then stood up to face his children.

“You both did something wrong. And it’s not even noon yet. ” He held up a hand to silence any starting arguments of defense. “You are going to sit here for three minutes and then we’ll talk. I don’t want to hear any noises or see any moving.” warned Lance and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup of water and found a place from where he could easily see the kids while he used the three minutes if silence to go through some social media.

The time was up pretty fast for him, but he was sure that it seemed way longer to Hunk and Pidge. He sat between them again and patted both of their heads.

“Ok, Hunk, do you have anything to say?”

Hunk nodded shortly. “It’s not good to push people. And we don’t hit. And I pushed and hit Pidge…. But she kicked my toys!”

Lance sighed. “I know, Hunk. But we are talking about what bad thing you did, not Pidge.”

“I was mean to her.” confessed Hunk.

“You were.” confirmed Lance.

“I am sorry, dad.” spoke the boy, looking his father in the eyes.

“Did you hit me?” questioned Lance with a gentle smile.

“No.”

“Then you shouldn’t apologize to me, huh?”

Hunk nodded in agreement and jumped up to go to his little sister.

“I am sorry for pushing you and for hitting you.” the apology was finished with a quick hug.

“Pidge,” began Lance. He knew that Pidge couldn’t express herself properly yet, also the connection between wrong and right, and the needed follow-up behavior was not completely set yet. So he took up a different approach.

“Did you ask Hunk nicely to play with him?”

“Yes. Hunk say no.” answered the girl nervously and put her thumb in her mouth.

Lance took her hand from her face and squeezed it softly. “Why didn’t you come to daddy then?”

“Pidge no know.”

“Did you kick the toys, Pidge?” asked Lance.

“Yes.” murmured the toddler guiltily.

“Was that nice?”

“No.”

“Will you do it again?”

“No! Pidge good.”

“I’m sure Pidge will be good.” smiled Lance. He was sure that there will be more hitting, more pushing, more toy-stealing and screaming. He has to young kids, it was just a part of the daily routine. However, they were set for the next few hours.

“What will you say to your big brother, Pidge?”

The girl stood still for a few moments and then stood up and hugged Hunk.

“Pidge sowwy, Hunk. Pidge no take horsey and no kick no more.” said Pidge with her face in her brother’s shirt. Hunk returned her hug and grinned up at his dad.

“Can I go play now?” at Lance’s nod, the boy ran to his room. Pidge stood silently, looking up at Lance. The man picked her up and set her on his hip.

“Do you want to have a date with daddy?” asked Lance with a laugh at his daughter’s enthusiastic positive response. “Come on, you’ll help daddy get pretty skin.”

 

* * *

 

Lance was once again in front of the bathroom mirror. His hair was clipped back from his face with some of Pidge’s colorful hairclips. Strawberries, raspberries and sunny faces were sticking out from his brown locks. He was applying face mask on, the green creamy substance covering his skin easily.

Pidge was helping him by smearing the mask on him and he just spread it thoroughly. After he was pleased with it, he washed Pidge’s hands.

“Pidge photo, daddy?” asked Pidge as her dad cleaned her hands with a towel.

Pidge and Hunk were deeply interested in his phone and more specifically his camera. They took photos and sometimes videos. Some of them turned out very cute and Lance kept them. Others, like the sixty shots of one of the legs of the dinner table were deleted on the spot.

Lance fished out his phone from the pocket of his robe, turned on the camera and handed it to Pidge. He monitored their time on the phone and they usually got around ten minutes. Pidge took some crooked photos of her dad and his green face, some of the toilet seat and one of Voltron’s ear.

Then the toddler headed to the living room in search of new things to photograph. Lance went to fetch her sippy cup and a glass of juice for Hunk. All of a sudden, loud music filled the room, followed by a happy clap.

The beat was very familiar to Lance, making him snort in amusement as he went investigate.

Apparently, Pidge found her way to the internet and had put on some music. His phone was on the couch while Pidge was dancing? _‘Oh my god, this is adorable’_ thought Lance.

Pidge was kind of crouching and getting up very fast, her hands moving in all directions. A jump here, and a twirl there, she was doing her best to sway with the music.

“Yeah, Pidgey! Dance, dance, dance!” chanted Lance happily and joined her. He copied her movements, doing some squats, arms flapping everywhere.

Very shortly, Hunk appeared and showed some dancing skills.

 

* * *

 

_**Five minutes later** _

 

“Oi, Keith.”

Keith turned to the voice calling him and nodded at Dak who was coming from the stairs. Keith waited for the boy to reach him.

The teenager was scowling and holding a black remote control in one hand. “Do you hear any music?” questioned Dak, looking around the empty hallway in confusion.

Keith nodded, it wasn’t very loud and he was pretty sure it was coming from Lance’s place.

He unlocked the door and opened it. The two males stepped in and stopped short at the entrance.

Usher was blasting through Lance’s phone, while Lance himself, still only in his robe, with hairclips in his hair and green facemask on, was doing the most ridiculous dance that consisted of fast squatting, random uncoordinated arm movements and the occasional spin. Hunk and Pidge were being just as energetic, even singing “Yeah, Yeah!” with the song.

Dak took out his phone, took a short video, pushed the remote in Keith’s hands and then left as quickly as possible.

“Oh, Keith!” exclaimed Lance, never stopping dancing. “You are back. Come dance with us. Yeah, yeah.”

“Dad, is this song about cows? He sings ‘I’m a milk the cow’?” inquired curiously Hunk finally managing to understand more of the lyrics.

Lance stopped in mid squat, his grin falling in a thin line. He jumped up and snatched his phone, turning off the song.

“Ok, enough dancing. The club is closed. Keith, don’t smirk! I’ll have you answering this question!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> So, the 20th chapter! Thank you so much for reading up to here, bearing with all the mistakes that I am still to correct and for all of your nice words! :)
> 
> I tried something new, tell me what you think about it - should I continue adding text messages where it's appropriate?  
> Oh, and this time we get a glimpse at fighting Pidge and Hunk. They aren't all sunshine and rainbows, there are some rainy days too :D But Lance manages perfectly. Also, improvised dance party, woohooooo. Pidge's moves are on point. The song is Yeah by Usher. Some childhood memories on my part :D
> 
> PS: I plan to introduce Slav soon, poor uncle Shito.
> 
> Have a nice week :)


	21. Adults are weird

As he walked through the aisles in the supermarket, shopping and handling two children, Keith was hit with the sudden realization that he was caring for two kids. Alone. Not for the first time and he was managing just fine. He was actually good with children. _‘Is it normal to feel proud of that?’_

“Keith?”

Keith broke off his mindless staring at the shelf with the pasta and looked down at Hunk.

“Why doesn’t Pidge have a penis?” Hunk’s innocent question was met with initial silence. Keith glanced at Pidge, sitting in the shopping cart and hugging a can of tomato puree as if it was her favorite teddy. The man then returned his attention to the boy who was looking at him with the whole curiosity and innocence of the universe.

“What?” managed to mutter out Keith, very confused and wondering if perhaps he had heard the wrong thing.

“She has no penis, I though it loud grow, but it’s been two years and she still doesn’t have one.” explained Hunk animatedly, pure hunger for knowledge clear in his voice.

“Uhhh…” Keith opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately.

“But she still can pee.” Hunk continued, putting a hand on his chin. ‘ _He has Lance’s thinking pose._ ’ observed Keith in his mind and then decided to actually answer the boy.

“She is a girl, girls don’t have a… one.” It was a basic answer but Keith hoped that Hunk would be satisfied with it.

“But why?” of course the kid wanted to know ‘why’.

“Because we are born that way. Males and females need different… parts to pee.”

“Why?” Keith wanted to run away from Hunk’s continuous question-attack. But he couldn’t. Lance had left him with the kids while he went to sign a contract for a photoshoot and Keith was in charge.

“It.. um… helps when making a baby.” ‘ _Wow, really Keith, you just dug yourself deeper_.’

“A baby? How come? Do you make a baby with pee?” Hunk’s tone was becoming higher with his excitement at the prospect of new information. The people around them were looking at Keith in a weird way and he didn’t like it.

“No! Let’s leave these questions for your dad, huh? He knows for sure, he has two babies after all.”

“But I’m not a baby anymore” barked out Hunk and crossed his arms.

“Pidge no baby, Kit!” shrieked Pidge for the sake of giving her own statement on the matter.

“Mhm. Now, let’s go!” Keith took Hunk’s hand and pushed the cart forward, ready to get out of here.

“You didn’t take any pasta, Keith!” laughed Hunk, not understanding the sudden urge to hurry or why people were looking funny. Adults are weird.

 

***

 

Somehow, Keith reached the cash register without further uncomfortable questions. The girl behind the register looked in a good mood, which was a rarity for her profession. She smiled at him and started a conversation with the kids about the ice cream they had chosen. Even Pidge shared her own opinion and the cashier pretended she understood the toddler, clapping in agreement.

“You are a girl, right?” inquired Hunk while Keith was pocketing the change he had received.

“Yup!” confirmed the cashier.

“So you don’t have a penis!”

Keith almost choked on air.

“HUNK!”

**

 

Later the same day, Lance sat down with Hunk and had a discussion about girl parts, boy parts and how you can be a girl with boy parts and the other way around. Hunk doesn't understand all of it yet, but he now knows not to expect to have the same body as his sister.

 

* * *

 

 

Keith was in the midst of breaking Lance’s record in a game, _again,_ when he felt a gentle tug on his jeans. He paused the game and turned to Hunk.

“Keith is Uranus big?” inquired Hunk, not letting go of the hold he had on Keith.

Keith blinked once and furrowed his brow. _‘Is my anus big?!’_

“Is what big?”

“Uranus.” repeated the boy not detecting the distress in Keith’s tone or expression.

Keith’s eye widened and he ran in the kitchen in search of Lance.

“Lance! It’s happening again, Lance!”

Hunk pouted at not being answered and returned to his room. On his bed was laid open an encyclopedia about the planets, but it was only the first part and some of them were in the next one. His dad hasn’t brought that one yet. However, there was a picture of Uranus and it looked really pretty, all in blue. His dad liked blue! Hunk just wanted to know if this pretty blue planet was a big one or a small one like Mars. Why did Keith run away?

Adults are weird.

 

* * *

  

“Maybe I should- AH!” Lance almost forgot what he was trying to say when Keith sucked on a sensitive spot on his neck.

The black-haired man licked the now reddening area and moved to another place of skin, this time directly underneath Lance’s ear. Lance moaned as quietly as possible and fisted a hand in Keith’s shirt.

Keith smirked, highly pleased with himself. He loved to explore Lance’s body and to closely observe the man’s reactions. Every moan and squirm went right to Keith’s groin. After the next pleasurable shudder from Lance, Keith moved a little, moving from neck to shoulders. Lance gasped at the sensation and closed his eyes tight.

Their make out session has started spontaneously. Pidge was already asleep in the bedroom, Voltron was out with Dak and Zack, and Hunk was at his first ever sleepover.

Lance was very grateful for the moment he was granted, oh, damn right he was. His boner was the prove of it, however, he couldn’t help but think about his sweet son, alone at someone else’s apartment, without his dear dad to put him to bed, or to make sure he has eaten, or to hug him.

“Mhm! I’ll call Shay’s mom real quick and we’ll continue, yeah?” questioned Lance from underneath Keith and gasped again, this time louder, when Keith bit his shoulder in frustration.

“You’re not going anywhere!” demanded Keith and slid lower on Lance’s body, until his face was the same level as Lance’s abdomen. Keith rolled Lance’s vest up to his chest and restarted his attack of kissing, licking and sucking onto his boyfriend’s smooth skin.

Lance moaned again, his abdominal muscles tensing under Keith’s lips.

“Y-yeah. Imma stay right here.” Lance agreed easily and put his hands in Keith’s hair. There was something under his ass, and it felt like one of Hunk’s dinosaurs _. ‘He didn’t take any of his toys, what if he needs a comfort toy?’_ though Lance and his eyes snapped open instantly.

“He is too young, Keith! Why did I agree to that? What if he needs me? Maybe he is hungry or thirsty!”

Keith breathed out loudly in annoyance and poked Lance in the sides, making the other man yelp.

“They have your number! If something was wrong they would have called you!” Keith assured, losing the last of his patience. “Now relax and enjoy the moment.” Not waiting for a response, Keith bit gently at Lance’s navel and reached to pull his shorts down.

“Oooh yes!” groaned Lance in pleasure and once again closed his eyes, giving himself to Keith.

Just as Lance was left only in his underwear, a knock came from the front door.

“Don’t move” muttered Keith against Lance’s tight.

Lance nodded and bit his lip in order to keep from making noises that were too loud.

The knock came again and Keith lifted his head slightly to glare at the door. At the back of his mind, he was glad that whoever it was, wasn’t ringing the bell, because that would have woken Pidge up.

The knocking stopped and Lance patted Keith on the head as a makeshift signal for ‘go on’. Keith hummed in agreement and moved so he could kiss Lance. The moment their lips touched, the front door busted open.

“I told you it was unlocked! I didn’t hear the lock after we left. You shouldn’t have waited for them to open, Zack! OMG! WHAT THE HELL!” Dak’s ranting turned in yelling at the sight of the two men on the couch, one of them wearing only blue briefs.

“SHHHH! Pidge is sleeping!” scolded both Lance and Keith. Lance reached for the babyphone on the ground and listened for any signs that his daughter was awake.

“You are so gross!” cried out Dak, this time minding the volume of his voice. The two teenagers were standing awkwardly at the entrance, Voltron long ago moving past them and into the apartment, to his bed.

“Oh, why is the door open?” came a new voice as Shiro appeared next to Zack and Dak.

“What are you doing here?!” asked Dak. He took a better look at Shiro and smirked. “Wow, man. _Shito_ , you look like shit.”

Zack nudged Dak in his back with an elbow as a way to reprimand him for his language to his _uncle_. Dak grunted and scowled. “What?! He does.”

And indeed Shiro did look the worse for wear. His hair was ruffled, looking as if the man had run his hand through it a few too many times. He was wearing an untucked formal white shirt, a loose bowtie and black sport shorts.

Shiro glared at the short teenager and poked him hard in the forehead.

“Hey!” complained Dak and rubbed the reddening spot.

“We just wanted to return Voltron early so we could go and catch a movie. Sorry to interrupt, we are going now, you can continue as if nothing happened!” explained Zack as he led a fuming Dak out of the apartment. The older teen even closed the door gently and wished a ‘nice evening’.

“Shiro?” inquired Keith impatiently at his brother.

“I need help!” confessed the man and took off his shoes before he entered the living room.

“What kind of help?”

“Psychological!” responded Shiro and went directly in the kitchen, coming back shortly with four beer bottles.

“Well, I’ll just go and check on my son real quick and be back before you know it!” announced Lance and wriggled his way out from underneath Keith. “You help your brother, Keith, I’ll be just down the street! Ah, maybe I need pants.” In record time Lance had put on his shorts and sprinted out of the flat.

Keith flopped on the couch and screamed in one of the pillows.  

 

* * *

 

“She is trying on dresses right now? At this time?” asked Keith with disbelief.

“Yes! Yes! Because Slav said that nigh-light is different than daylight and we should choose the right shade of white. One that looks good in every kind of light. There are fucking shades of white, Keith. Different whites. And that came only after we made it clear that we don’t want a nudist wedding! I don’t care how probable it is for someone to step on Allura’s dress and fall down to break their neck, or for my shoelaces to get in the way! ” angrily explained Shiro and took a sip from his second beer.

“I have never seen you so… fired up before, Shiro.” stated Keith as he eyed his brother.

“I’m not fired up!” insisted Shiro.

“Ooook.”

“And did you know that the date of the wedding matters. Like, the position of the stars and the planets and stuff. I thought we just had to choose a season, a month and a day of said month. But Slav comes and he tells Allura all about the importance of numbers and stars and she is now reading a book about it!” ranted Shiro.

Keith sighed and rubbed his face. Coran had hired a wedding planner in order to help the fiancés with the preparations. Apparently, Allura really liked Slav and his eccentric ideas. Shiro, on the other hand, was ready to just kidnap his fiancé and marry in secret without any color schemes, numbers and safety plans.

“Well, some people like these stuff. If she is interested in the topic, let her be.” Keith tried to reason. Not surprisingly, he was ignored.

“The color of my tuxedo has to be in perfect match with the shade of Allura’s white dress. What does that even mean? The number of the guests has to be specific in order to fit with the numerology theme. Or something like this, at that point I wasn’t listening anymore. We wanted a small wedding, Keith! I don’t care if the moon and the stars don’t agree with my number of guests!”

“Mhm.” hummed Keith and leaned against the back of the couch. He closed his eyes and let his brother vent on. Already on his third beer.

“And don’t even let me get started on his evacuation schemes and safety pamphlets! What kind of name is Slav anyway? Is he even married? How can he be such an expert if he isn’t? Keith, are you listening to me? Are you asleep? This is important, Keith!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> Children ask uncomfortable questions without realizing it! :D Keith will learn how to react in these situations... eventually. :D  
> Also, Shiro is going insane with wedding planning, or specifically with the wedding planner, Slav.  
> Dak was totally not ready to catch Keith and Lance half naked. He is still angrily grumbling about how gross they are. 
> 
> PS: In the end, Lance returned with Hunk, who was not ready to go to sleep in a strange place without his dad around. Shay's mom was about to call Lance when he appeared. For once Lance's 'parent-paranoia' was in the right direction :D 
> 
>  
> 
> Have a nice week :)


	22. The sex hug

“Lance, nothing seems like _the present_!” Keith exclaimed as quietly as possible. He scowled at the phone in his hand and threw it slightly, making it bounce once on the mattress of the bed. He took a deep breath and reached for the device, unlocking it and continued scrolling.

Keith was lounging on the bed, over the covers, his head propped up on a pillow, shirtless, only in his underwear. The clock on his phone showed one in the morning. The time didn’t seem to bother him at all, though.

Lance was standing up, gently rocking his daughter in his arms. Pidge’s still tear-stained face was resting against his naked chest. He was sure there was snot on his skin, but he didn’t care. He stopped caring about things like this the first time baby Hunk threw up on him. The nightmare that woke up Pidge was one of the worse ones. However, after a whole bottle of milk, she was finally calm enough to fall back to sleep.

When Pidge had cried out in terror, Keith had been awake. Lying on his side and blinking at the lit-up screen of his phone.

“Birth stone soaps! I can’t give that to my brother! He’ll hit me on the head with them!”

The wedding was coming closer. Shiro and Allura didn’t waste any time at all and chose a date that was as soon as possible. Of course, after consulting Slav and three different numerology books. Keith was starting to panic about his lack of a gift. 

Lance snorted and then hummed in thought.

“How about we give them a vacation. It’s not very original but we can choose a nice destination.” offered Lance and walked up to his bed stand where he placed Pidge’s empty feeding bottle.

“We could, it’s not a bad idea” said Keith as he sat up to put his phone to charge. Then he got in under the bed cover and continued “I just want to give them something that they can later look on and… I don’t know, to have as a memento?”

“I see…” trailed off Lance, biting his lip. He went to put Pidge back in the crib. The toddler didn’t even stir when her father placed her gently down. She gave a few sucks on her pacifier and continued on sleeping undisturbed. Lance looked at her for a few moments with a smile and then joined Keith in bed.

“We can look for ideas around the shops, yeah?” proposed Lance and cuddled up to his boyfriend.

“Yeah…” agreed Keith. He sighed deeply in contentment, only to blink his eyes open immediately after Lance’s skin touched his own.

“Your chest is sticky and wet.”

“Mmm yeah. Probably some snot.”

“Ew, go wash yourself!” Keith demanded and shoved at Lance’s body.

“Nope, this is fatherly love. We love all the snot and saliva that comes out from our children.” stated Lance and hugged Keith even harder. “Also, I’m already in bed, and I am too tired to go and take a shower. You’ll just have to accept me and my daughter’s snot as we are – raw and genuine.”

Suddenly too tired to fight for his right of clean snuggles, Keith just accepted his fate and fell asleep.  

 

* * *

 

Morning came fast, with some groaning, alarm clocks and children skipping around full of energy.

Keith had left earlier, to meet Shiro and to grab some coffee with him before they go at the shooting range in town. Usually, Lance and Keith had their coffee together, however, Lance’s newest purchase – a coffee/tea making machine was not working right and Keith decided to leave the place before Lance could get really frustrated with this new coffee-maker and destroy it.

Lance, badly craving his morning potion decided to call reinforcement and that is how Dak came in, grumbling all the way from downstairs.

The teen looked at the machine and then at Lance.

“You can’t turn it on?”

“I can turn it on! It’s on right now!” pointed out defensively Lance, putting his finger on the small green light that was flashing under one of the buttons.

“Then why did you call me?!” exclaimed Dak angrily.

“Tell it to make me coffee!” demanded Lance instead of answering the teenager’s question.

Dak exhaled loudly and faced the coffee-maker. He blinked at it two times and started pressing things on the screen and underneath it. After the third beeping noise Lance waved his arms around and inquired a tutorial.

“Ok, so, you have to connect it to your wi-fi.” Dak began “Or, you can use Bluetooth to synch it with your phone or other devices. In any case it will update you wirelessly on what you need to stock it with – capsules, tea stuff, sugar, whatever. This model needs internet to work, ok.”  explained the teen.

Lance nodded and then shook his head. “So I need my phone to make it work?” concluded Lance.

“Yes! Didn’t they tell you when you bought it?” grunted Dak, rolling his eyes.

But Lance didn’t hear him, he took out his phone and stared at it not knowing what to do.

“Just look at what I’ll show you!” Dak ordered in a loud annoyed tone.

“When you press here, you are turning on the internet, I already connected it, you wouldn’t have to write the password again.”

Lance nodded and motioned for the boy to go on.

“Here, the touch screen is active right now and you have to enter the settings menu and choose the type of connection and personalize it. With this button you can adjust the sound signals and the one next to it is for when you are connected through your phone. You need to download the app and to-”

“Wait, wait, wait! Slow down mister high-tech.” Lance cut off the demonstration and pushed the teen out of the way. He reached and pressed a button on the coffee-maker. A small light flashed, a dinging noise rang through the kitchen and Lance looked at Dak.

“So with this button I turn it on?”

Dak’s left eye twitched as he facepalmed.

“Oh my god! You just turned it off! With that button you turn the internet off! I told you it can’t work without it! You are not even that old! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” snapped Dak.

Lance turned his full attention to the teen, a neutral expression on his face.

“Excuse you, but you are degrading my personality!” Lance claimed offended as he pointed a finger at Dak’s chest.

The teen growled. “Degrading your personality? You are degrading my free time! Why did you even buy this thing?”

“It had nice reviews!” Lance answered now glaring at the cursed coffee-maker.

“Yeah, from people who can actually use it.” jeered Dak.

“I just want to drink some coffee!”

“Wait, Lance, don’t press that! Lance stop touching the screen!”

“Why is it making these noises? Dak, what have you done?”

“Me? You just played the piano on the settings menu!”

“Make it stop! Why is it beeping?”

“I don’t know, man! Just plug it out.” Dak tugged at its cable and the noises stopped. “There! I’m going out with Voltron and Zack now, you don’t touch that. Got it?!”

“It’s my house and my machine!”

“Bye Lance!”

 

* * *

 

At the end, Lance settled for an old-fashioned tea, made with a kettle and boiling water on the stove. He sat down on the couch to drink it, watching some reality show, while observing Pidge playing with some colorful blocks and Snuggles. Hunk came out of his room and sat up next to Lance tapping his dad’s arm to get his attention.  

“Why do you hide sex from us?”

“What did you just say?” Lance choked on his tea.

“Dak said something ‘bout how ‘cause we are kids you have to hide to have sex.” declared Hunk, now standing on his knees on the couch, fully facing his dad.

“When did he said that?!” demanded Lance more loudly than necessary, bending forward to place his cup on the ground so he doesn’t spill it over himself in shock.

“When he was here yesterday. He was speaking on the phone whit Zack. Where do you hide it, dad?” inquired the young boy, curious and demanding.

“Nowhere. You are too little to know these things.” Lance argued and rubbed his eyes. He was going to kill Dak.

“What is sex?”

“Hunk… stop it.”

“I am not little! I’ll be in the first grade! Tell me, what is this sex?!” countered Hunk, face twisting slowly in anger. He was a big boy already and he had to know all things.

“Do we speak like that to dad?” asked Lance calmly. When the boy didn’t say anything, Lance asked again “Hunk?”

“No… I’m sorry. But you won’t tell me! I’ll ask Dak!” threatened Hunk.

“Dak won’t be saying this word in your presence in the next decade, don’t worry.” Lance assured him.

“I wanna have a sex too! It’s not fair!” complained Hunk, close to actually starting crying. He didn’t like it when his dad denied him knowledge.

“You can’t have sex, Hunk. Only grownups can.” Lance lectured and reached to pull Hunk over to his side.

“Why?” mumbled the boy all the while snuggling to his dad.

“Sex is special and you have… do it with special people. When you become an adult.” Lance continued his lecture. He ran his hand through Hunk’s soft hair.

“How do you do it?” his son asked and Lance inhaled deeply trying to collect his thoughts.

“It’s like a special kind of hug. That’s all you need to know now. Only adults do it, and only when they are alone and in love. You can have sex only when your body is all grown-up. And only when you have your special person.” elaborated Lance. He smiled at Hunk’s pout “I promise you that in a few years I’ll tell you all about it!”

“Fine.” Hunk agreed.

“And Hunk? We don’t use that word in public, ok? It’s like the word ‘penis’, do you remember when we talked about it? Use it only when you have to ask dad something really important and don’t say it outside or at school. Or to Pidge. And definitely not to Keith, he freezes and doesn’t know how to respond. It’s a grown-up word and it’s ugly when kids use it.”

“Ok.” nodded the boy only to erupt in laughter moments later when his father started tickling him.

 

* * *

 

“The menu Slav chose is perfect. Not too heavy, only seasonal foods and we got to try the dishes – the cook is good.”

After Shiro finished speaking he raised the gun he was holding and fired a few rounds in the target ahead of him.

Keith, having emptied his gun, moved so he was leaning on a wall slightly behind his brother and cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

“I thought you didn’t like Slav?”

“I don’t particularly dislike him all the time.” responded Shiro, shrugging his shoulders. “He is smart, his ideas are not bad. Some of them, I mean. And he gets good deals on a lot of the stuff.” continued Shiro as he turned to face Keith.

Keith narrowed his eyes. “So you like him only because some things will be cheaper?”

“No!” Shiro tried to deny, avoiding looking in his brother’s eyes. He rubbed the place where his prosthetic arm met his skin and headed out of the shooting range.

“You don’t even know which foods are seasonal at the moment!” Keith caught up to him and shoved him hard. Shiro stumbled before he regained his balance. He threw Keith an offended look, its effect cut short by the pout on his face. The two of them reached the reception desk and while Shiro spoke with the man behind it, Keith’s eyes stopped at a familiar face. At the end of the reception were stocked some magazines and the top one made Keith march right over to it.

There he was, on the cover, half-naked, only in some swim shorts, leaning on the railing of a brand new yacht.

This was a photoshoot that Lance was really excited about, one of his biggest shoots, for the cover of a magazine that was internationally popular.  His contract has been a last-minute thing, their previous model had been admitted to a hospital after an accident (an almost overdose in a club’s bathroom if Lance’s gossip was true) and Lance’s manager was able to secure him the job.

“Damn, Keith. Is this Lance?” came Shiro’s voice from behind Keith’s shoulder.

Keith only hummed and took in the way Lance’s shorts were _so perfectly low_ on his hips, the way his skin looked amazing with a slight shine to it from the sun, the way his lean and toned body was stirring in Keith the- Suddenly his perfect Lance was not in his vision anymore. Keith turned around, anger flashing in his eyes as Shiro waved the magazine in the air.    

“This is my brother-in-law! He is my brother’s boyfriend!”

Keith exited the place as fast as possible, leaving a laughing Shiro inside with the desk guy. The glass doors closed behind him and he squinted a little in the hot sun. He smiled when he spotted someone across the street.

Lance, Hunk and Pidge were waiting for him, as they had agreed in the morning, so they could go swimming. He and the kids were standing in the shade provided by a tall building. Lance was leaning on the wall of the building the same way he had posed on that yacht, however, this time he was not mostly naked.

He had on pink shorts that matched perfectly Hunk’s flowery themed shirt. His tank-top was a simple white one. On his face he had plastic yellow sunglasses that looked way cheaper than the pair he usually wore. But Hunk was wearing the same yellow ones and Keith was sure that if he was to peak under the canopy of Pidge’s stroller, the toddler would be wearing the yellow frames.

The hat on his head was clearly not his own, probably Hunk’s, it looked comically too small on him, but as he got closer, Keith couldn’t help but think that his perfect Lance is right in front of him.

 

** Bonus: **

Lance was almost asleep, leaning on Keith’s chest while the other man watched something on his computer with his headphones on. He could feel Keith breathing, his hand resting on Lance’s chest, hugging him gently.

In the last moments of consciousness he felt a light tap on his head and opened his eyes. Hunk was staring at him from over the back of the couch. His chin was resting on the backrest, in between his hands and he was blinking innocently at his dad. Lance smiled sleepily at his son and pocked him on the nose. The boy laughed and then asked:

“Is this a sex hug?”

Pretty fast Lance’s smile fell and he groaned.

“No Hunk, it’s not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> I am so sorry for this big delay! My exams just finished and I had 9 exams in, like, a month. And somehow I managed to pass all of them with perfect grade, idk how I did it with only a few days in between each of them... But they are all over, now I can relax and write, and relax, and write. I tried to get this chapter up as soon as possible, I am really sorry for any mistakes, I'll proof read in the morning. I have to say, it feels great to write something that is not university related and won't be graded :D 
> 
> Some brother's bonding time, some sexy boyfriend pictures, teens and modern technology, uncomfortable questions. I mean, Lance has too much material for when Hunk's all grown up :D Also, idk what kind of coffee-machine Lance bought, I am pretty sure it's totally based only on my imagination, inspired by a laundry machine that I saw once, it had wi-fi and i was impressed :D I know nothing about coffee making (I don't drink coffee) and about shooting ranges, sorry.
> 
> Have a nice week/weekend! :)


	23. Toss a coin

“Keith, come on, wakey.”

A soft voice pulled Keith from sleep. He sighed deeply and tried to will his mind back to dreamland. A hand was running gently through his hair, probably to wake him up faster, but it actually had the opposite effect.

“Keith.” the voice whispered again, right in his ear, accompanied by a stream of warm breath. Two kisses landed on his closed eyes. Keith, even so far gone from reality, turned his head in an attempt to lean in for more affection. Someone chuckled and seconds later two more kisses were given, this time on his chin and neck.

The black-haired man hummed in content. It felt so warm and not only because of the blanket or the heat from Lance sitting next to him. It was warm from the inside. Warmth which he has almost forgotten. It reminded him of the first Christmas he had with Shiro, Mom and Dad. He liked this warmth, he loved it.

The next kiss was on his lips.

“Come on, Keith.” urged gently Lance and rubbed a thumb below one of Keith’s eyes.

Groaning a little, Keith turned sideways. The hand followed him, now patting his back. Keith was just about to mumble his protest when his nose met something soft with a particular texture. He frowned. This was unusual. Somewhere above his head, Lance was giggling.

With a lot of effort, Keith opened his eyes and was met with the cartoonish grinning foxes and cats from Pidge’s diaper.

Out of nowhere a hand shot up in front of his face and started poking him.

“Come on, sleeping beauty, you have to get up. We're going to Shiro's today, remember?”

“ ‘m on it” murmured Keith almost incomprehensibly. He was already falling back asleep.

“Keith! You have to wake up, have breakfast and we need to take off soon.”

“I like br’fast.”

“I know. Get up now.” demanded Lance and bombarded Keith’s neck with kisses. Keith couldn’t escape, because he was feeling too heavy, it was so warm, Pidge was there and he didn’t want to wake her up, and maybe he really liked getting kisses from Lance. He also liked his sleep.

With a miraculous strength for someone half asleep, Keith managed to push Lance away and sit up.

“I’m up now!” declared Keith with a note of annoyance in his groggy with sleep voice.

Lance shook his head and stood up from his place on the edge of the bed. “I’ll take a fast shower and wake up Hunk. You get Pidge up and get dressed, ok?”

Keith nodded and watched as Lance left the bedroom. With a sigh of relief he flopped back down on the mattress and gently readjusted Pidge so she was sharing his pillow properly and was snuggled with him under the blanket.

The baby blinked once, gave a few sucks on her pacifier and fell back asleep.

“Your dad has problems. It’s too early, we can sleep some more.” spoke Keith to the already sleeping toddler and closed his own eyes.

 

* * *

 

“Maybe, if someone didn’t sleep in, we wouldn’t be stuck in traffic now.” Lance commented from the passenger seat of the car. He was leaning against the window, staring at the cars in front of them.

Keith’s eye twitched but he didn’t say anything.

“I woke you up and told you to get up. I asked you to get Pidge up. I come back half an hour later to see you both snuggled and sleeping. Not dressed. Not fed.” Lance continued to rant off.

Keith rolled his eyes. “Are you jealous because Pidge was cuddling with me while you were smearing mud on your face, or are you just angry for not departing on time? I can’t exactly tell what I should make it up to you for. ”

Lance straightened up immediately and pointed a finger at Keith, glaring.

“It’s not mud, it’s a very expensive face mask! Also, I am not jealous of anything!”

"Uh-huh."

 

* * *

 

“Keith?”

Keith looked up from his phone and turned in his seat to face Hunk in the backseat.

“When you and dad get married, who’ll wear a dress?”

“Uh, we are not getting married?” at that answer the boy scrunched up his nose in displeasure.

“Not now, Keith. Maybe later. But who’ll wear a dress like Allura?”

Keith wished that Lance was here. He always had a way to explain to Hunk the matter in a fast and easy manner. But the man was on a bathroom run with Pidge. So Keith was alone with Hunk’s brain once again.

“Hunk, marriage is a big thing. It may not happen soon.” Keith explained as he moved his gaze to the automatic doors of the gas station, praying that Lance will come out as soon as possible.

“But you even have sex hugs with dad and they are the specialest of all hugs, why don’t you get married?” insisted the boy. Keith’s mouth hung open for a few seconds, then he closed it and stared wide-eyed at Hunk. It suddenly became very hot in the car. He could feel sweat on his forehead.

“We-we uh, we don’t have, I mean, we do, but you-” Keith stammered nervously, slightly high-pitched.

“Are you ok, Keith?” Hunk asked with concern. Keith cleared his throat and nodded.

“Hunk,” started Keith, taking control of the situation “when men get married, they may choose to not wear a dress. Just like a woman could choose not to wear a dress on her wedding.” finished Keith, hoping Hunk would understand.

“That’s cool.” was the boy’s comment. Just then Lance opened one of the back doors and lifted Pidge in her car-seat.

“Kit, Kit, Kit!” the toddler chanted and tried to wiggle out of her father’s hands and the buckles he was putting around her.

“Pidge! Stay still so daddy can buckle you up, please.” instructed Lance and quickly strapped her up.

Keith saw that she was holding a small paper bag in her right hand, which was extended towards him.

“Kit!”

 Keith reached and took the bag. It contained a donut.

“Pidge chose it for you. She already ate hers.” Lance said as he gave an identical bag to Hunk. “Here, Hunk, I got you your favorite.” With a hair ruffle to his son, the dad closed the back door and went to sit in his front seat.

When Keith smiled and thanked Pidge, the toddler giggled and kicked her legs happily.

“Hey dad.” started Hunk and Keith could see where this was going. Of course the boy wouldn’t be satisfied without asking his dad, too.

“When you get married to Keith, will you wear a dress like Allura?”

Lance didn’t even bat an eye with his response. “Mmm, I guess it depends on the theme of the ceremony and location.”

“What?” exclaimed Keith while taking a bite out of his sweat treat, smearing chocolate around his mouth.

“What?” Lance repeated in confusion.

“Are we getting married?”

“Not now. I was speaking hypothetically for the upcoming future. Nobody said anything about now.” This defense was deemed as appropriate. Keith nodded and continued with his donut.   

“And you’ll put on a dress?” Keith questioned after a few moments.

“Probably no. I have a few suits in mind that I would love to put on for such an occasion.” Lance replied. He was elbow deep in the green bag at his feet. “I’ll look good in a dress, though.” added the man and took out a big packet of wet wipes.

As Lance kneeled in his seat for better reach of Hunk, Keith ogled his body. He hadn’t thought about Lance in a dress. Perhaps he’ll look good in one. His legs are so _long_ and- Keith’s nice fantasy was abruptly cut off by something wet with an artificial sweet smell.

“Pfffft, blah, uh, wha- Lance!” Keith couldn’t escape Lance and his wet wipes, the space in the car was limited.

Lance huffed and inspected his work. “You had more chocolate around your face than Hunk.”

 

* * *

 

“So, in my opinion, a good dress for me would be something with an open back.” Lance was scrolling through pictures on his phone. The car was mostly quiet. The radio was on, but turned down almost completely. Hunk and Pidge had fallen asleep, lulled by the motions of the vehicle.

For some reason the discussion about the dress had continued on.

“Definitely with some lace. Hmm, a peacock blue, slightly muted, or Prussian blue. Or perhaps Aegean blue.” Lance said, bit his lip and scrolled further through his phone. He was looking at different dress images on Instagram.

“Aegean? You just made up that word.” Keith broke in Lance’s mutterings.

“No! It’s a shade of blue. I have to educate you the color pallet.” Lance insisted with a slight hint of annoyance.   

“No, thank you.” dismissed Keith casually.

“For you, also an open back, this milky skin has to be shown. Red, for sure. Something that sticks to the body, so your perfect ass is finely outlined…” Lance hummed in thought and added “Also with a side opening, them long legs have to be out and about.”

After not very subtle glance and Keith’s legs, then a look at his sleeping children in the back, Lance returned to his browsing. Keith rolled his eyes but decided not to say anything.

“I’m not sure which shade, though. Ruby red or maybe wine red. It depends on the material. Something simple.” continued Lance. He leaned fully back in his seat and closed his eyes.  “Keith, you look incredibly sexy in that dress.” Lance breathed out dreamily.

“What the hell?!” was Keith exclamation accompanied by a quick deadpan look at Lance.

“Well, I had to imagine it! You look even better than me!” Lance explained and shrugged his shoulders.

“No, I don’t! You’ll look better. With the side thing for the legs and the lace…”

Lance smirked at Keith’s words and leaned close to his boyfriend’s ear. “So you like lace, hm? I’ll treat you to some lingerie sometime.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

“Lance, do not talk about lingerie in the next forty eight hours, please.” Keith begged with a sigh. They were entering a small town and he had to slow the car in order to meet the speed limit.

“Ok, back on track, you’ll rock a dress waaay batter than me. Your body will be a gift to my eyes in some red silk.” Lance declared happily. Keith just shook his head, eyes nor leaving the road.

“No way. You in the lace one. Why do you always need to have an opposite opinion to mine?” Keith’s grumble was answered with Lance’s exasperated protest.

“You don’t even understand clothes! How would you know who’ll look better? Stop arguing with me.”

“I may know nothing about fashion, but I am not blind. I see your body, and I see it good.” huffed Keith, throwing a quick glance in the back mirror to check if they had woken up the kids. Both of the youngsters were still soundly napping.

“My body is perfect, I know. But yours is too. And trust my professional opinion on this one.” declared confidently Lance.

“Professional opinion? Lance, you aren’t a designer, you are a model. Your opinion is only half professional.” Keith reasoned. Lance gasped loudly and turned sharply in his seat. His eyes were wide with anger as he whisper-demanded.

“What did you say about my opinion?! Did I just hear you degrade it?”

 

* * *

 

Officer Kaltenecker was in the last fifteen minutes of his shift. He was minding the traffic, the radar in his car detecting anyone who dared to speed in this town.

The traffic was mild, nothing unusual for this time of the day. The sun was shining over his head and he sighed for the tenth time in the last minute. He was so ready to go back to the station and sign the day off.

A car caught his attention. It was stopped at a traffic light a small distance away from his place in a small parking lot overlooking the street.

The driver of the car and the man in the passenger seat seemed to be arguing about something. They were very clearly waving their hands around in anger, pointing at each other and the man in the passenger seat would often swing a phone in the air or in the driver’s face.

From his position, officer Kaltenecker could see a child seat in the back. That was not acceptable. He frowned. The fight looked serious. The decision was made fast and the moment the green light came on, the officer made the signal for the car.

The driver, who Kaltenecker could easily see now, was with longish black hair. He followed the command of the policeman and the car was put to a stop on the side of the road. The other man in the car was brown-haired. He was glaring at his phone, still speaking.

Officer Kaltenecker went to the driver’s window, which was already rolled down. The black-haired man was holding his head with one hand while the other was offering his driver license to the officer.

 _Keith Takashi_ was the name of the driver. Officer Kaltenecker pulled his gaze from the documents and looked inside the car. His intention was to check on the kid in the back, only to find out two children. They looked healthy and well taken care of. Both were sleeping peacefully in well maintained car seats.

He then returned his attention to the adults.

“Is there a problem?” questioned the officer calmly. The brown-haired man clicked his tongue and nodded. He removed his seat belt and almost climbed on Mr. Takashi’s lap so he could address the policeman face to face.

“Yes officer, there is a problem. I am trying to explain to this man that his hot ass will look smocking in the right dress. Better than mine.”

Kaltenecker was not expecting this. He was trained to respond as fast as possible in all kind of situations, but this made him pause for a second. A phone was thrust in his face. The officer was looking at a red dress that showed a lot of leg skin.

“See. Something similar to this one. But another shade.”

Mr. Takashi rolled his eyes and tried to push his companion away. “He is not well. In the head. He got up really early and is very tired.” 

 

* * *

 

“Hey Keith.” Lance whispered seducingly. He was resting his elbows at the bottom part of Keith’s open window. The man in question mutely acknowledged Lance.

Lance smirked “If I toss this coin” he said and showed a coin from the change he got after he paid for Keith’s coffee at the gas station. “What are my chances of getting head tonight?”

Keith stared at Lance with a deadpan expression and pressed the button to close his window, making Lance stumble slightly back.

“Hey!” exclaimed the man, but Keith pretended not to hear him. Lance rounded the car to his door but found it locked. All the doors were suddenly locked. “Keith! Open the door!”

Once again he was ignored. Hunk had a pair of headphones over his ears and was watching something on Lance’s phone. Pidge was so immersed in her animal crackers, that she didn’t notice her daddy.

“Come on, Keith! Sorry, I am sorry! I know I promised no puns or pick-up lines!”

Keith spared him a half-hearted glare but didn’t unlock the doors.

“Keith, people are looking at me strangely, open up! Ok. How about you toss the coin and get head tonight anyway, huh? You can even check out my exhaust pipe if you want to!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> No excuse is good enough for how much I delayed this chapter. It's here now, though, I hope you like it. I rewrote the ending like six times, and I am still not quite happy with it, but enough is enough :D
> 
> They are going to visit Allura and Shiro. Also, Keith unlocks the door after the first offer ;) :D 
> 
> **Dak is looking after Voltron and the apartment while they are gone. 
> 
> Have a nice week! :)


	24. I do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! Uuuuh, yeah. I am so sorry for the long hiatus!   
> I want to express my endless gratitude to all of you for the continuing support for this series! I truly mean that, you have no idea how amazing it is to see people enjoying something I wrote. Thank you! And I once again apologize for this long wait.... I'll do my best not to have a repeat of that hehehe... 
> 
> NB: !! A very big shout out to JohnnyAppleseedLives for drawing the first art for this story! I'll link it [here](http://johnnyappleseedlives.tumblr.com/post/164624156656/i-dont-know-why-ive-started-designing)  
> so you can go and love it. It's from last chapter and it shows the boys in the dresses that they talked about. Thank you, again!

“I love you so much” the soft whisper in Keith’s right ear made him sigh. He had just started to fall asleep.

“You changed my life, Keith. I’m so glad I met you.” the strong embrace that he was in tightened and a kiss landed on his cheek. With great annoyance Keith opened his eyes and glared at the ceiling.

The whole room was dark, the curtains blocking even the moonlight. The walls, so familiar and full of memories. Even though it was so dark, Keith could see every photo or poster on the walls, every imperfection or small hole in the paint. He could see them even with his eyes closed. After all, this was his room, the one that he grew up in. This was the first place where he felt truly at home.

“You know that I’ll always be there for you, right?” the words were coming out drunkenly somewhere against his collarbone. A hand was now caressing his face and Keith jerked his head to the side.

“No matter what, I’ll never stop loving you and supporting you!” Keith’s face was suddenly shoved in a chest, as he was hugged.

“Let me go!” demanded the man and moved away as much as the bed situation allowed. “Go to sleep right now!” Keith snapped angrily.

“I’m so proud of you!” The lovely words continued, seemingly not bothered by the raising irritation of the black-haired man.

Before he could build up a proper response, Keith was again smothered in a strong embrace.

“Aaaaaw.” A third voice exclaimed from Keith’s left side. “You are so cute together.” Finished a grinning Lance and propped his head on his hand, observing how Keith was struggling to brake from his brother’s hug.

Shiro grinned back and nodded, kissing his little brother’s head.

“Just let me go and let’s sleep! Why are you even in this bed, go to your room!” Keith growled.

“It’s so lonely there!” wailed Shiro as he finally let Keith to settle down on the bed properly. “Allura is with her friends and tomorrow is such a big day! Even Coran went with her. Why do we always drink so much?” Shiro ended his rant with a confused question and rubbed his already throbbing head.

“Your last night as a non-married man had to be memorable!” Lance beamed and snuggled on his boyfriend’s empty side.

“It’s very questionable how much he’ll remember after the second bottle.” mumbled Keith, swatting Shiro’s hand away from petting his hair. “Sleep. Now.”

The only answer Keith got was a hum from Lance and a sigh from Shiro.

 

* * *

 

“There is a fire” the scream came from somewhere afar. It was strong but kind of muted. It was just enough to break through Lance’s heavy sleep and to wake him up. His son’s cries about fire were just as efficient as a bucket of cold water would have been.

“There is a fire!” Lance yelled too, sitting up in bed only to jump out of it not even a second later. Movements so fast that he was only a half-naked blur running out of the door. In his hurry and loudness he managed to wake up his bed companions.

Shiro groaned and pushed Keith away from him. The man rolled on his side, straightening out his limbs now that more space was free. As his shoulder popped and Lance’s muffed voice quieted, Shiro blinked at the wall clock, eyes closing again. The small clock hand was at ten. He had plenty of time to sleep more. Why was he sleeping in the same bed as Keith and Lance? Ah, right. Allura was with her girlfriends, they were going to help her get ready for the wedding. ‘ _The wedding_!’

“FUCK MY LIFE!” Shiro yelled and sat up sharply. “I AM GETTING MARRIED IN AN HOUR!”

Shiro swearing equaled a big crisis. This startled Keith out of his slumber.

“What the hell, Shiro?!”

Shiro didn’t answer; instead he pushed Keith out of the bed, his brother falling down with a loud thump.

Lance ran back to the bedroom with Hunk under one arm, the boy was covered in flour. “Oh my god!” exclaimed the young father. “We have an hour to get ready and go to the venue!”

“It’s half an hour drive from here!” Keith protested as he got up from the ground, eyes looking frantically at the clock.

“I am now dead.” Shiro stated with a blank stare.

“No no no no!” said Lance and strode to the groom. “Ok, we can do it, Shiro, go shower” instructed Lance and pushed Shiro in the direction of the bathroom. “Keith, go shower” repeated Lance as he went to peck his boyfriend on the lips, gently hoisting Hunk as the boy started to slip from his awkward position.

“You are covered in eggs and flour” deadpanned Keith, already leaving the room to go in the second bathroom.

“Then I am joining you. With Hunk. Wait a minute. NOBODY MOVE.” Lance’s panic stopped everyone on their tracks. “I have another child and I don’t know where she is!”

“Jesus Lance, why do you always loose them!?”

“I do not!”

 

* * *

 

“Let me point out that the two kids were dressed, their fashion father was dressed and even Dak managed to find the house before you got ready, Shiro.” deadpanned Keith as he entered the car. Lance was already sitting in the back in between the two child car seats. His legs were uncomfortably bent and he was afraid his shirt will wrinkle. The only thing distracting him from that was his attempts to keep Pidge from ruining her little lime green cardigan.

Dak was sitting on the third row of seats, in the trunk. He had arrived ten minutes ago, via the train and then walked all the way from the station in his formal wear, which was a pair of surprisingly not ripped black jeans and a suit jacket, again surprisingly, very well looking and formal, with no signs of tears or inappropriate accessories. His hair was well done, thanks to Lance. However, the teen was grumpy because Zack was out of the country visiting family and he couldn’t come.

“I had to dry my hair the right way! Slav showed me how. And this suit? Why does it have so many pieces?”

“We have to be there in twenty minutes.” Lance cut in, stopping the forming argument. There was no time for that.

“You know,” Shiro started “in one of Slav’s many possible scenarios I end up being late. Then it turns into a funeral and Allura is arrested for murder.”

Both Lance and Keith looked at Shiro silently for a few seconds.

“Can you give me his number, Shito?” asked Dak but was ignored. Even his jab at Shiro’s name was not enough to push the heavy worry away.

Keith started the car and sped up immediately, all the passengers jerked in their seats.

“We’ll be there just on time.” Keith assured and made a sharp turn.

“You are the best brother, Keith!” praised Shiro happily. At any other time he would have yelled and scolded this irrational driving. But his life was on the line.

“It’s like a rollercoaster!” exclaimed Hunk from the back with excitement. “Woohoooo!”

“The hottest rollercoaster in town!” Lance commented and licked his lips. The determined look on Keith’s face and the aggressiveness of the situation was just perfect.

“Disgusting” Dak grunted and smacked Lance on the back of the head.

 

* * *

 

Everything went according to plan - the ceremony and then the start of the dinner party. Allura was magnificent in her dress and Shiro looked like he fell in love a second time when he saw her. Coran escorted her and the man was crying. The amount of pictures – both serious and silly was impossible to count.

When it was time for some words from family and friends, Keith was the first to give a speech. It was a short one, but filled with enough meaning to tear up both the newlyweds. Coran took his turn, some other close people, even Lance said a few words with a big smile and some hugs.

Surprisingly, Hunk also wanted to say something. He stood up in his chair holding his glass with juice up, just like the adults had done before him.

“… and because you are all grown up and you love each other so so so much I wish you to have the most special hug – have a great sex!”

After the initial scandalized seconds passed, contagious laughter boomed from all the guests. Lance tripped in his haste to take the child down from the chair and to probably run away mortified. Keith crouched under the table with Pidge in embarrassment.

 

* * *

 

“Aaah!” Shiro sighed tiredly and leaned on the wall next to his brother. “So much trouble and worries for one day… It was totally worth it, though!”

Keith hummed in acknowledgment and took a sip from his drink. Allura was twirling a blushing Dak around in tune with the slow music the DJ was playing. The helpless expression on the teen’s face made Keith smirk. Shiro noticed where his little brother was looking and chuckled.

“It’s your turn now, you know.” Stated Shiro and nudged Keith in the ribs playfully.

“Don’t!” Keith threatened. The two stood silent after that, just watching all the people having fun on the dancefloor. Lance was spinning gently with Pidge in his arms. Keith hid his smile behind his glass.

“Mom would have cried during the whole thing.” Keith said never looking away from Lance and Pidge. With his peripheral vision he saw Hunk running with circles with a few other kids.

“She would have.” Shiro agreed with a nostalgic smile.

“They are proud of you.” Declared Keith confidently. “Proud of who you are and proud of your happiness.” Only at the end of his sentence did Keith turn his head to look at his brother. Shiro’s eyes were moist and his mouth was lifted in a gentle smile. He put a hand on Keith’s shoulder and nodded once in gratitude.

“Thank you, Keith.” He didn’t elaborate, but it was not needed. Keith knew what was hidden behind the words. Thank you for being next to me on this day. Thank you for the support. Thank you for everything.

“I think Lance is crying.” Shiro pointed out. That was the end of the moment and both men cleared their throats and blinked to get the tears out of the way.

Keith sighed. Lance was indeed looking close to bawling his eyes out while still dancing. His face was some strange combination between blissful and sad. He was sniffing from time to time, Pidge clutched in a tight looking grip. With a last heavy sigh Keith headed to his boyfriend.

 

* * *

 

“Are you having fun, Pidge?”  Lance questioned his daughter after kissing her extra loudly on both cheeks.

The toddler laughed and nodded, kicking out her legs happily as her dad swayed.

“Who is the best dancer, Pidgey?”

“Daddy!” exclaimed Pidge and hugged her father around the neck.

Lance beamed in agreement “That’s right! Remember that! Even on your wedding daddy will be the best dancer!”

“Pidge merry daddy!” declared the small child. Lance stopped moving and adjusted Pidge so he could look her in the eyes. “Really?” he asked hopefully. His dear cute baby chose him and not anyone else.

“Yeah!” confirmed Pidge, laughing at nothing in particular.

Lance made a loud incomprehensible sound of apparent happiness and squeezed her to his body. He won’t give her to anyone.

“Daddy loves you so much!”

“Pidge loves daddy!”

Lance knew that one day his kids will have their own families and then he’ll be an old grumpy grandpa who complains about the politicians and the uncultured youth to Keith. He’ll be all wrinkly. His sink didn’t have enough space for two cups of water for his and Keith’s dentures! He’ll have a prettier walking stick than Keith’s. At least one thing is sure.

A light tap on the shoulder broke him from that train of thoughts and his eyes met Keith’s “Are you crying?” His boyfriend asked.

“Only a little.” admitted Lance.  “We need a bigger sink at home.”

“Why?” Keith wondered with confusion.

Instead of answering, Lance looked around, searching for something.

“Is the priest still here?” inquired the young father.

“I think so? Why?”

“Pidge said she’ll merry me! I need to act before the proposal becomes invalid.” Informed Lance with determination.

“That’s illegal.” Keith stated, not amused with Lance’s antics.

“But I am her father!” Lance countered.

“That’s what makes it extra illegal.” Keith took Lance’s free hand and led him to the garden. Away from people. And the priest.

“But Keith!”

“Lance.”

 

* * *

 

“Cool place.”

Keith rolled his eyes at Dak’s compliment. The roof of the garage was not just cool. It was the coolest place in the house. It was close to one in the morning and the whole town was quiet. The sky was clear and many stars were blinking down at them.

The wedding was officially over, the newlyweds left for their honeymoon, and Keith, Lance and Dak went back to Keith’s house. The kids were asleep the moment they put them in the car. The adults were feeling the same tiredness but knew they wouldn’t be able to fall asleep soon. The charge from all the emotions of the day was still too high.

That’s how the three of them found themselves on top of the garage. Lance went to fetch some drinks and blankets, while Keith and Dak lounged and stared at the night sky.

“You called your parents, right?” asked Keith.

“Yeah, yeah. Before we left the restaurant. S’fine to stay one extra day, so we can sleep in tomorrow.” Dak said and took out his phone.

A loud clanking indicated Lance arrival. “Brought some beer.” He handed a bottle to Keith and then to Dak.

“I am underage.” stated Dak in a joking tone and expertly opened his beverage.

“Yours is not alcoholic.” Lance assured and sat close to Keith.

“Hey!”

“You’re underage.”

“Fuck you.” There was no real bite in the teenager’s words.

“Language” reprimanded by habit Lance and kicked Dak’s shin.

“Don’t kick me!” Dak demanded. He sent a last text to Zack and put away his phone so he could address Lance with his full attention. He returned the kick, maybe more forcefully than needed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” hissed Lance and pushed at Dak’s shoulder this time.

The kid growled and used both hands to shove at the offending male.

“Hey!”

“Stop it!”

Keith took a big sip of his beer and leaned back until he was laying on the hard surface. “If one of you falls down and breaks their neck I won’t call an ambulance until the sun rises.”

The two bickering figures stilled and quieted. Soon, a blanket covered Keith and a warm body cuddled to him.

“They looked so happy.” noted Lance with a big smile. “Shiro cried!”

“Everyone cried. A lot.” Keith concluded with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Even you did.” Lance teased and pinched Keith’s cheek.

“I didn’t!” defended Keith and glared at his boyfriend.

“I saw you.” Dak added from next to them, under his own blanket, face illuminated from his phone.

Keith pursed his lips and didn’t say anything back.

“Sooo…. have you brought any boyfriends or girlfriends up here?” Lance joked as he sat up slightly and turned to the side, looking Keith dead in the eyes.

“No.”   

 “So I am the first to see one of your special places, huh?” wiggling his eyebrows, Lance leaned in so his lips ghosted over Keith’s. “Wanna seal it with a kiss?”

“If you start making out, I’ll jump from here, head first.” Dak grunted, loud and irritated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this super late chapter!
> 
> I love your comments, so please tell me what you think, share your thoughts :)
> 
> The wedding happened (so we are a few days after chapter 23). I didn't want to describe the whole wedding as a ceremony and traditions, because I wasn't sure what kind of a wedding they are having exactly... So I wrote about the happenings around the big day, kinda :D Also, of course Dak is back too :D I hope you liked it and yeah, I'll stop babbling now. 
> 
> I want to say that even if I don't post for a long time - this story and these series are not abandoned. I will finish the story, maybe not update every week, but I'll do my best for as often as possible! I have plans for new one shots soon, so look out for that too!


	25. Maestro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, hey? I'm back? How are you?
> 
> I won't go into writing a novel about why this update took so long, but let's just say last semester of last year in university is a pretty shitty thing. I'm writing all day long, but sadly, documentation and I have zero time to write the ideas my head is full of. Finally, because of Easter break, I am breathing somehow freely and was able to sit down and type. Sadly, I have no idea when the next update of any kind will be. I'll do my best for as soon as possible. I'm just itching to write so much. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“So, a flower shop?”

“Huh?” Dak couldn’t look away from the TV screen so the confused blink he made went unnoticed by Zack, who was also intensely concentrated at the game they were playing.

“Your dad. The job interview he went to?” asked Zack.

“Ah, uh, yeah.” On the screen Dak’s character died and the teen cursed under his breath, throwing the controller in anger, the device landing in Voltron’s plush bed. The boy leaned against the couch and watched as his boyfriend got closer to winning. 

“Can you imagine him taking care of flowers? Being nice to all the ladies that come with questions he has no answer to?” huffed out Dak in clear delight, the irritation of his loss in the game already forgotten. 

“He can always learn, you know.” commented Zack and smirked in triumph as he took first place.

Dak snorted and changed positions so his legs were in Zack’s lap. “He has no idea about reality. I’ve been trying to teach him how to pronounce ‘Instragram’ and let me tell you, Pidge can say it, but he can’t.”

Zack smiled and shook his head. Just as he was about to suggest that, perhaps, Keith was doing it just to annoy Dak, the apartment was filled with dog’s howl and the agonizingly inharmonic melody that only a child can produce while beating the life out of his toy piano.

Pidge, who was napping in her crib, joined the symphony with a loud cry. Dak groaned and covered his ears.

“Lance is just as out of touch with the world! What sane person buys a toy that makes noise?! Curse him and his hair!”

The purple-haired teen’s whining was hard to hear over the cacophony. Zack patted Dak’s knee once and pushed his legs until Dak was hanging out of the couch, looking melted on the ground.

“Noooo.” continued to whine Dak, sliding to the left so he could bury his face in Zack’s tight.

Zack tsked and stood up, lifting Dak along the way. “You go stop the concerto, I’ll take Pidge. Then we play a last round.”

With an exaggerated sigh Dak agreed and strode over to Hunk’s room. Voltron was still singing, the dog not pausing even when Dak ran in and yelled “Dude, are you crazy?! STOP!”

Hunk, all smiles and sunshine, removed his hands and the sounds stopped coming from the cursed plastic toy.

“I’m playing the piano, Dak! Did you hear?” questioned excitedly the boy, already positioning his fingers to renew the melody.

“Ms. Hartly heard you, and she is almost deaf.” Dak deadpanned and glared at the still howling dog “I said to stop, what don’t you understand?!”

Voltron did, indeed, stop. The big animal cocked its head at the teen and retreated to the living room with a puff.

“Did you just-” Dak caught himself before he could finish scolding the dog. ‘ _Oh my god, I almost sounded like Lance. Curse him and his nails._ ’ with that though, Dak turned his attention back to Hunk, who was busy arranging his dinosaur collection as an audience in front of the plastic piano.

“Okay,” Dak started, crouching next to Hunk. “I’ll show you a magic trick. Don’t look carefully.”

Hunk sat on the ground and followed every movement of his babysitter’s hands as they took the batteries out of the piano.

“Now your piano is special. It won’t make any noise until you learn how to play something nice on it.” explained Dak and pocketed the batteries. He stood up and headed for the door as he continued speaking.

“Don’t stop playing, never mind that you don’t hear the sounds. When you become good, the piano will start playing your music on its own.” Finished Dak and smiled with fake sweetness.

“How come it’ll play music? You just took the batteries! It has no electrical power without the batteries!” Hunk exclaimed and stood up.

“And how do you know so much, huh? I’m older and what I say is true.” Dak was honestly surprised that Hunk was able to come up with a solid argument against his bullshit story.

“Dad said that you are in puberty and you say only 70% truth. You are in the lying 30% now.” The kid stated proudly, hands on his hips, a confident expression shining on his face.

“Uh, you’re grounded.” Dak scowled and turned his back to Hunk. The teen exited the boy’s room and looked around for his boyfriend. Zack was sitting on the ground, with Pidge. The toddler was going through one of her hard-paged books, while the older teen was tapping away on his phone.   

“You can’t ground me!” argued Hunk, following Dak. The kid took hold of Dak’s elbow and pulled.

“I’m in charge so I can ground you!” declared the teen and freed his hand. Hunk stomped his feet in displeasure at the turn of events.

“I’ll tell dad you kissed Zack in front of me! With tongue!” Hunk threatened in anger.

Dak yelped in surprise. He was about to sit on the couch, however, Hunk’s words made him miss the soft cushion and his ass hit the ground.

“What? When? It’s not true! We don’t kiss!”

Zack snorted “Mhm.” Dak shot him an ice glare and went to kick him in the shin.

“See, it’s your puberty again. Now give me the batteries!” insisted the child. His eyes were getting teary and Dak really didn’t want to deal with _that_. So he acted on instinct.

“I’ll give you ice cream if you shut up and forget about the batteries, deal?”

It didn’t matter that Lance instructed them not to give ice cream or cold drinks. He won’t even find out.

“With strawberries?”  mumbled Hunk.

“Yeah.”

“Deal.”

“Pidge scream too!”

“Yours gonna be the biggest, because you are the only one who listens to me.” praised Dak and bent to pick up a cheering Pidge.

“What about me?” Zack teased, putting his phone away and smirked up at his boyfriend.

“Shut up.” muttered Dak blushing.  

 

* * *

 

“Excuse me, pretty sir, do you have a band-aid? My dad scrapped his knee falling for you.”

Keith narrowed his eyes and looked from the magazine he was reading under the shade of a tree in the park. Hunk was blinking down at him innocently, his yellow sun hat tilted to the side, probably due to all the running the kid was doing with his friends.

The man sighed and looked around, quickly finding Lance, on his knees on the cemented bicycle road. His boyfriend was fake-pouting and was rubbing a fist under his eye as if cleaning up tears. Pidge was hopping around, all delighted giggles in her green dungarees. Her small bike was resting next to Lance on the ground, clearly abounded in favor of chasing after bugs.

Keith glared at Lance. The other man just smiled and sent an air kiss. Keith grimaced and went back to the article about conspiracy theories after addressing Hunk

“Hunk!, I told you to never repeat your dad’s pick-up lines. They are lame and dead.” He had taken it upon himself to make sure the boy didn’t take after his dad when it came to ridiculous conversation starters. No soul should be like that. Not on his watch.

The boy shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “He looks happy when I repeat them.” Then Hunk span around and yelled so loud, probably the whole neighborhood heard him. “He said you’re lame and should die, dad! Can I go play now?”

Keith bit his lip and hid behind his magazine.

“Excuse me?!” shrieked Lance, immediately getting up and sprinting Keith’s way.

Keith jumped, threw the magazine and ran.

“You can’t run forever, Keith! I’m coming for you!”

Hunk stood there, watching as his father chased after Keith. “Can I go and play now?”

 

* * *

 

“It’s a temporary position. They need some help at the moment but can’t promise anything long term.”

A slight breeze ruffled the leaves of the tree over their heads and Keith paused his explanation to close his eyes so he could enjoy the moment of relief from the heat.

Lance, who was laying on the blanket next to his boyfriend, was staring at the people around them. Pidge was sitting between the two adults, eating a banana, squishing it too hard, smearing it over her face and hands.     

For some time Lance didn’t say anything. Then he rolled over so he could face Keith.

“Are you sure you want this job? You could always look for another offer.”

After a deep exhale, Keith opened his eyes and repositioned himself so he was also lying properly on the blanket.

“I want it. I need to do something with my day, you know? Also, my savings are drying up and I don’t want to use the money my parents left.” Keith said with confidence. He had thought about it, he was sure about his decision. “Shiro always nags at me about staying in all the time and not communicating enough. This will prove him wrong!” added the black-haired man.

“Maybe the change will be good for you.” Lance agreed and locked eyes with his boyfriend. They exchanged a smile. “But I can’t imagine you selling flowers! Or taking care of them!”

“Hey! I can do it!” Keith defended himself, the smile melting into an offended frown.

Lance giggled and extended an arm around Pidge so he could playfully nudge Keith in the ribs. “I know, I know. Everyone can do anything they set their mind on. But what are you going to wear? Why don’t you borrow some of my pastel shirts, uh?” Teased Lance and continued his tickling.

“No. And stop your annoying pocking.”

“I’m not annoying!” gasped Lance and curled around Pidge. “Am I Pidgey? Daddy’s the best, right?”

“Daddy beeeeeest” giggled the little girl and grasped her father’s hair in her hands, all the banana from her fingers transferring to his head.

Rolling his eyes, Keith sat up to fish out some wet wipes before Lance could start whining for his ruined hair.

From some distance away, Hunk yelled for his dad’s attention.

“Daaaaad! I found a coin! Now I almost have enough money to run away!”

This got Lance up pretty fast, teasing and whining forgotten in a moment. Keith was still opening the wipe’s packet and his boyfriend was already half way across the green field, bypassing running children and gossiping mothers. The banana still nested in his hair.

Keith rolled his eyes and grabbed Pidge before she could also run away.

“Don’t look at me like that, Pidge. Let’s clean you up and then you can go and bother your daddy just like Hunk does.”

The toddler sat obediently as she was wiped clean from the sticky fruit. Keith gave her sippy cup and the girl drank some water. Then, he pulled out her hat and put it on her head, tying it under her chin.

“There” he patted her on the head and pulled her up. “Go play.”

Pidge didn’t lose any time and did just that, but only after a quick hug to Keith’s knees. Then she proceeded to run all the ten meters to the nearest sandpit.

Keith sat back on the blanket and spotted Lance, waving his hands in the air, animatedly explaining something to a nodding Hunk.

It was a sunny and warm day. Keith closed his eyes again, when the next burst of breeze caressed his skin. He could almost enjoy the pleasant nature sounds, if he could only ignore Lance’s banana head in the background.

 

* * *

 

In the evening, sometime before dinner, Lance and Keith were sitting on colorful cushions on the ground in Hunk’s room. Lance had Pidge in his lap. All around them they had different dinosaurs and a few stuffed toys. The concert hall was full to its capacity.

Hunk was getting ready in the bathroom. Apparently he had to dress himself accordingly to the occasion.

“I’m telling you, the skinny purple brat did this on purpose.” snapped the young father.

“You are the one who bought the toy, though.” said Keith and moved one spinosaurus so he could extend bot of his legs. Before Lance could answer, Hunk entered the room, dressed in his formal suit jacket over a naked chest and only in neon orange underwear waist down.

“Dinosaurs, Pidge and humans! Welcome to my concert!”

Keith masked his laugh as a cough, while Lance giggled, hiding his face in Pidge’s hair.

Pidge was clapping with a huge grin on her face.

Clearing his throat, Lance addressed his son. “Excuse me, maestro, why are you not wearing any pants?”

“ ‘cause it’s too warm. Anyways, when I sit behind the piano you can’t see my legs, it doesn’t matter if I wear pants, dad.” Hunk explained in a ‘duh, dad’ kind of tone.

His father nodded in agreement and took out his phone to record the moment.

Hunk marched up to his white plastic piano and sat on the tiny chair. He positioned his hands, breathed in and banged his fingers on the keys.

Keith and Lance both winced in advance, fully expecting the noise level to hit the roof. However, to their pleasant surprise, nothing happened. Hunk continued to press the keys, moving his body around, humming something under his nose, but the toy remained silent.

Pidge jumped up and started twirling and shaking her limbs around.

“Don’t worry” started Hunk while still ‘playing’ the piano. “Dak took the batteries, but it’s okay. He can’t hide them forever.”

“Bless him and his angsty soul.” cooed Lance, writhing on the ground like a worm, trying to keep in shot both of his children.

 

* * *

 

Falling asleep on the couch didn’t happen often. Keith tried to avoid it at any cost, because it killed his back later on. But, regardless of all taken measures and precautions, he would find himself falling asleep on it from time to time. The thing about sleeping there was that he never sleeps soundly. The smallest movement or noises woke him up.

The first thing he became aware of was the dull pain in his waist from his uncomfortable position. The second thing he noticed was the relative silence. Someone, probably Lance, had turned the TV off. He could hear muffed voices in the bathroom, but other than that – only the breathing over his head. This was the third and main thing that made him open his eyes.

Hunk was watching him, unblinking. His hair was wet and he was in his pajama shorts, so Keith could guess the boy was fresh out of the shower.

“I need something you have.” whispered Hunk and snatched the remote control which Keith was holding.

“What” the fuck was left unsaid. “Why are you whispering? Why do you need the remote?”  

Hunk didn’t answer. Instead he leaned as close as possible to Keith’s ear and said “This is just a dream Keith. Forget about it.”

Keith widened his eyes as Hunk skipped to his room and closed the door.

“Why are you so creepy sometimes?” wondered the man quietly. He shook his head and turned over, facing the back of the couch and closing his eyes again. He could nap some more before Lance came to wake him up for the nightly dose of beer and some football game. _‘Maybe it is just a strange dream’_

It was not a dream. All of a sudden the quiet apartment was suddenly cut through with uproar.

Hunk had managed to transfer the batteries from the remote control to his piano, and apparently, he had enough time to start showing his nonexistent musical talent.

Voltron, previously sleeping curled up in a ball next to his bed, because Snuggles was on the plush cushion and the dog was too much of a softie to push the rock away, was now scratching at Hunk’s door, howling.

And, of course, Lance had to include himself in the chaos.

“YOU’RE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU TURN THIRTY!” yelled the man as he came running from the bathroom, carrying a towel wrapped bundle of crying toddler.

“It’s just a dream” whispered Keith to himself, while in the background Lance was regaining the tranquility in the house. “It’s all a bad dream, go back to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this super duper late chapter!
> 
> Thank you so much for all of your comments! They make me smile and I love them! 
> 
> I literally have a blister on my hand from all the writing I've been doing in the past months (for some reason they want this shit written by hand, cause it's not like we live in the 21st century or something) and every time I receive a notification for a new comment I feel so happy! Sometimes I go back and read your thoughts on previous chapters, which helps with ideas on the future plot. (I'm just terrible at answering them, sorry, not gonna happen again.)
> 
> Thank you all for the support, some of you have been a part of this from the beginning and I see you, and I appreciate you ⊂(￣▽￣)⊃
> 
> I wish you all great weekend! (for the ones celebrating Easter this Sunday - happy holiday!)


	26. Spa

“Lance?” Keith called as he entered the apartment and closed the door behind himself.

The living room, which was basically the room you find yourself in into from the front door, was empty. This wasn’t that unusual. But the silence was. The TV was off, Hunk’s room was open and seemingly empty.

Keith walked by the main bedroom and discovered it bare of any human activity too. Even the dog was missing.

“Lance?” repeated Keith again, this time louder.

What sounded like a splash came from the bathroom followed by Lance’s voice. “AAAH AH.”

In seconds Keith was standing dumbfounded in the bathroom’s doorway.

“How was work?” asked Lance, tight lipped but curious, reaching out towards Keith with one hand.

However, Keith was still frozen in place. “What is going on?” questioned the man with great confusion.

“Hm? Oh!” Lance chuckled as much as he could without using any face muscles, because of the face mask that was no doubt tightening his skin on the verge of being painful. “Spa.” Was his short answer.  

“Spa.” Keith repeated and finally moved so Lance could reach and pull him down. Once he was bended over the tub his lips found Lance’s and a quick kiss was shared by them. Lance’s mouth was apparently also coated with something. It was oily and it tasted like coconut.

“Kit!” a sudden shriek accompanied by a wet tiny hand broke the short moment. Pidge was standing in the tub, next to her dad, a rubber frog in one hand, while the other was currently fisted in Keith’s collar. As the man was still bending over, he had to catch himself on the edge of the bathtub so he didn’t topple in the purple sparkly water. ‘ _Lance and  his bathbombs.’_

“Hi to you too, Pidge.” Keith laughed and after he got his footing right, he lifted one hand to pry her hold off him so he could stand up.

“You look like you are having fun, huh.” Commented the man and finally straightened up. The toddler exclaimed something incomprehensible but loud and clearly full with joy. Lance expertly caught one of her flailing arms in order to stop her from slipping.

“You are all very loud.” Hunk huffed in protest. He was sitting on Pidge’s other side, watching something on a laptop which was set on the closed toilet seat right next to the bathtub.

The boy went to turn the volume up, however, his father’s screeching “AAAAAAH!” stopped him from damaging the computer with his wet fingers.

“You sounded like a goat.” Keith said casually and upped the sound of Hunk’s cartoon a little bit. Lance glared at him and Keith was sure he would have scowled and ranted if his face wasn’t cemented still.

“Work.” Grunted Lance through his teeth. He readjusted himself, sitting vertically so his legs were hanging out of the bathtub. He pointed at Keith, then at the now free space net to him, squinting his eyes as if daring Keith not to comply with his silent wish.

With a shrug of his shoulders Keith stripped down. He left his clothes in a pile next to a sleeping Voltron on the floor and entered the still very warm water. The man settled in a way mirroring Lance with his legs sticking out.

“It went… normal” Keith started when he was comfortably sitting, or at least as comfortable as he could be with a ceramic edge at his back and his head basically resting on the cold tiles on the wall.

Lance hummed in acknowledgment. He produced a clear plastic bottle from somewhere along with a cotton pad.

“The cash register is not hard to learn.” continued Keith “There are way too many different flowers, though. I only know roses and sunflowers.”

A small breathy noise was the only thing Lance managed to get out between his lips, but the amusement in his eyes was clear and Keith knew he would be laughing out loud if he could. Before Keith could add more to his tale, Lance was smearing something on his face with the cotton pad.

“Pfffft” sputtered the black-haired man. He turned his head to the side, but his boyfriend followed with ease. “Stop it!” demanded Keith only to have a bottle shoved in his face. The word ‘cleanser’ stood out in big font on the label.

Keith stood still for a minute, letting Lance finish whatever he was doing to his face. Once he was content with his work, Lance patted both of Keith’s cheeks and motioned with his hand for the man to continue speaking.

“Yeah, so, a lot of flowers.” trailed off Keith. Just as he was opening his mouth to say something else, Hunk cut in out of the blue with a question.

“Do you have from the flowers that eat insects?”

“There are flower that eat insects?!” Keith’s eyes widened at the thought. His voice cracked at the end of the sentence and Lance had to bite his tongue while his whole body shook with silent laughter.

“Uh-huh. They have teeth and when a prey gets in their mouths they close their jaws like _that!_ ” the little boy demonstrated the way said plant functioned with his hands, managing to splash water everywhere.

Voltron whined wen some drops landed on him but only rolled over and went back to sleeping.

Pidge mimicked her brother and smashed both her hands in the water.

A water fight escalated in a water war in seconds. With a big sigh Lance screeched again and successfully put an end to the game.

“There aren’t any plants that eat insects, right? I don’t think I have ever seen one, so…” Keith addressed Lance who slapped him on the chest with a rather deadpanned expression. Keith took that as reassurance that no, there weren’t any flowers that had teeth and ate anything different than, well, water.

“I sold four different bouquets today.” At Keith’s rather proud statement Lance just blinked, not very amused.

Keith rolled his eyes. “Of course I didn’t make them. I just… sold them. Took the money and issued the receipt.” Confessed the man. “My boss told me I should smile more and greet the people.”

Once again Lance’s body shook with silent giggles.

“It’s not funny!” cried out Keith and hit Lance on the shoulder.

“Oh god. What the fu- uh, frog.” A new voice echoed in the bathroom and all of the occupants of the tub turned to look at the teenager standing at the door.

“How did you get in here?” demanded Keith.

“Through the unlocked front door.” Deadpanned Dak.

Lance turned to face Keith, his eyes screaming ‘It’s your fault.’

“I called your phones, both of them. No answer.”

“And?”

“And I came to find you! Now I am traumatized for life! What are you doing?!”

“Spa.” answered Hunk and Keith at the same time, using the same unbothered tone.

“Whatever. I don’t want to know. Weirdos.” The lanky teen muttered.

“You can go now.” Keith suggested casually only to get stabbed in the ribs by Lance’s elbow.

“What?!” protested the man. “He clearly doesn’t want to be here!”

“Rude.” Was Dak’s only response. The boy didn’t look offended at all. He backed out of the bathroom and left their line of vision.

“Daaaaaaak!” yelled Pidge after the teen and tried to climb out of the water. Lance reacted immediately. He leaned forward and lifted her up from under her arms, only to put her back down in between him and Keith.

The little girl whined and wriggled, however she settled fast when her dad dropped all the bath toys in front of her.

“I’m totally beating all of your records, by the way.” Announced Dak from the living room where the TV was already on and the intro music of some game was way too loud.

Lance glared in the general direction of where he guessed Dak was sitting and huffed. He bended forwards a little in order close the laptop’s screen.

“Daaaaaaad” Hunk wailed distressed because his show was interrupted.

“AAAAH” screeched Lance once again. ‘ _Like a goat._ ’ Thought Keith.

Hunk pouted but didn’t press his luck further. Satisfied with that, Lance picked up Pidge and put her on his hip. He mentioned for Keith to stand up too.

With a great dose of confusion, Keith did so. Lance nodded to himself and then grabbed the shower head. Before Keith could react he was already being sprayed with water.

Shortly, he was washed enough in Lance’s opinion and the water stopped. Keith rubbed his face to clear his eyes and glared at his boyfriend.

Lance pointed at the open door and Keith suddenly got the situation. His glare gave place to understanding.

“Okay, I’m going. I won’t let him set new records. I’ll defend us.” He probably sounded way too serious for something like that, but apparently that was the right spirit. Lance nodded and the two men bumped fists as Keith exited the room.

‘ _Okay_ ’ said Lance to himself in his head ‘ _I have to empty the tub, wash the kids, get them dressed, wash off the mask and then I can go and show Dak who the real-_ ’

“Dad.” Hunk broke Lance’s train of thoughts. “Pidge peed on you just now.”

Pidge was looking at him innocently and maybe a little bit worried.

‘ _Ah, so that is what the warm feeling on my stomach and leg was._ ’

“AAAAAAAAH”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Keith!” Lance whispered from his end of the bed and nudged Keith’s toes with his own.

The bedroom was mostly dark. The night lamp on Lance’s bedside table was on, but it was covered so the light wasn’t too strong. It casted a series of strange shadows on the wall and the ceiling. Pidge was sleeping in her crib with her paci in her mouth and a soft blanket clutched in her fist.

“Keith.” Whispered Lance again and Keith grunted in response. After the nudging of his toes became straight out shoving in his knees and calves, Keith took a deep breath and rolled over to face Lance, opening his heavy eyelids enough to see his boyfriend’s blurry figure.

“What? I’m tired and I have to get up early tomorrow” Keith demanded, his words slurring in sleep.

“Let’s go have sex in the shower.” The words were said directly in Keith’s ear, Lance’s breath tickling his skin.

“No.”

“What?! I know you want to!” Lance argued scandalized.

The black-haired man didn’t deny that fact, but he also didn’t show any initiative of getting out of bed.

“Come on. We can try something new.” Urged Lance in the most seducing voice he could master while whispering in a room with a sleeping toddler.

Lance was lying almost completely over Keith, his head millimeters away from Keith’s, their breaths dancing on each other’s faces.  Every word that came out of his mouth made Keith shiver a little.

Another soft grunt left Keith’s throat. Lance pouted and rolled his eyes.

“What are you going to do early in the morning anyway? Your shift starts at 9.” Lance demanded, rather irritated at that point.

After a deep exhale Keith answered “I have to be there at least half an hour before opening. It’ll be the first time I open alone.” Keith stated, more coherent than a few moments ago. “It’s watering day for all the orchids. We have twenty and I have to soak them all in water bows. Also, I need to wash the floors and dust the register. We received a delivery of roses and I need to cut the thrones away. Beside that- Actually, you know what, I am awake enough now. Let’s go in the shower.”

Keith tried to roll over so he could get up, but Lance’s weight kept him in place. Lance, who was now like a melted human, relaxed and breathing deeply.

“Come on, Lance. Sex in the shower.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s cheek, but the other man was dead to the world.

“Did you seriously fall asleep while I was talking to you?! And that’s after you woke me up for sex?!” The disbelief he felt was not shown properly because he had to mind a sleeping Pidge.

Keith lifted his head slightly and took one hand from underneath Lance. He poked Lance in the forehead but didn’t get any reaction aside from a scowl.

“I hate you.” Keith said as he settled back on his pillow. He stared at the shadows from the lamp for a few minutes. Nothing changed, the room was still and quiet, Lance as asleep as he could be.

“I hate you.” Repeated Keith and pecked Lance on the cheek before he swung an arm around him and snuggled close.

Right before he fell back in dreamland, Keith felt a gentle hand in his hair and a sweet voice in his ear.

“That’s what you get for choosing orchids over my dick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Hey hey! ~(＾◇^)/  
> I am back! In the long hiatus I managed to graduate from university with an almost full grade A. Now I am back for more Power-kicks in more fluff and more Klance. Yup, yup.
> 
> I hope you liked the new chapter, i rewrote it a few hundred times and I am still not completely happy with it, but I don't think I'll make it better so I posted it. Some minutes after I post this, I'll post a new one-shot in the series, so, you can look out for that too. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, please share your thoughts, you are awesome people.
> 
> I wish you all a happy summer, even if you are working. Hopefully I'll update this story more often now that I don't have university on my plate, who knows :D  
> (I'm actually working on a few stories, some in these series, others in different fandoms, so we shall see what will hit the site first :D )
> 
> PS: I know nothing about taking care of flowers, bye.


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